FRANK 
 
 MERRIWELLS 
 
 SET-BACK 
 
 BURT- L 
 STAN DISH
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 EDWIN CORLE 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 JEAN CORLE
 
 Finally Mi-rriwcll found the <i]n j ning liu \viis seeking and drove the puck 
 ' etween the goal-posts. 
 
 (Page 21f.)
 
 FRANK MERRIWELL'S 
 SETBACK 
 
 A STORY FOR BOYS 
 
 BY 
 
 BURT L. STANDISH 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "The Merriwell Stories" 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER 
 
 604-8 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE
 
 Copyright, 1900 and 1901 
 By STREET & SMITH 
 
 Frank Men-Swell's Setback 
 
 
 All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, 
 including the Scandinavian.
 
 FRANK MERRIWELL'S SETBACK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE GIANT OF THE WHEEL. 
 
 In its various forms it was an old trick, and it ought 
 not to have worked on Starbright, who had come from 
 the famous preparatory college at Andover. But by 
 some chance, Dick had never heard of it, and the soph- 
 omores, discovering this, prepared to "work" him with 
 it. 
 
 It was a principle with the lordly sophomores to an- 
 noy freshmen, and the towering young giant, who had 
 already made himself so famous at Yale, suffered as 
 much at their hands as less noted mortals. 
 
 There is a streak in human nature which causes those 
 who have been "through the mill" to want to put 
 others through. This spirit accounts for "hazing," in 
 all its forms. 
 
 Jack Ready started it by offering to bet Dick Star- 
 bright ten dollars that he could not ride a bicycle from 
 New Haven to Guilford and back, a round-trip of 
 thirty-two miles, in three hours. Starbright snapped 
 him up quicker than a wink, for though there were 
 many things he could do better than bicycling, Dick 
 knew that he could do this, and the trip to Guilford, 
 
 2035366
 
 6 The Giant of the Wheel. 
 
 along the pleasant shores for a great part of the way, 
 was an attractive one. 
 
 The bet was made one Wednesday evening, and 
 Dick was to do the riding the next Saturday afternoon. 
 Starbright told his friend Dashleigh about it. 
 
 "Of course you can do it !" Bert declared. 
 
 "Dead easy! Why, I could do that trip in two 
 hours, even if the roads are sandy. But three! I 
 don't know what Ready is thinking about. He must 
 fancy that I can't ride a wheel. Perhaps it is because 
 I started in to take part in the relay race and Merriwell 
 pulled me out of it and put me at other work. But 
 that was only because you are a faster rider than I am, 
 and my size and strength made me a promising candi- 
 date for the shot-putting and hammer-throwing." 
 
 "And you did your part well, old man. You covered 
 yourself with glory!" 
 
 "And I'll show these duffers that I can ride a wheel. 
 I'll see how quickly I can do the trip, and I'll make 
 their eyes bulge out when they see me back." 
 
 Dick did not get an opportunity to see Merriwell, 
 but he told Browning; and Browning, who had been 
 "let in on the ground floor," assured Dick that he 
 could make it "dead easy," and that Jack Ready was 
 a fool for offering such a bet. 
 
 "It will be a good way to open up Merriwell's en- 
 tertainments," said Ralph Bingham, when Starbright 
 chanced to speak to him about it. "I'd do it, if I were 
 you."
 
 The Giant of the Wheel. 7 
 
 Bingham was a sophomore, but Dick did not think 
 of that. 
 
 Carker, alone of the sophomores, objected, urging 
 that he disliked to see so good a fellow as Starbright 
 toyed with in that way. 
 
 "Well, you aren't going to chip into the thing and 
 spoil the fun, just because it doesn't suit you, are 
 you?" demanded Bingham. "We sophomores must 
 hang together. Ready is an especial friend of yours, 
 and he is managing the thing. Don't you think it 
 would be rather a scaly trick to give the snap away?" 
 
 "If Merriwell should hear of it?" 
 
 "He'll not hear of it. He has his hands full of 
 other matters just now. And he wouldn't interfere, 
 anyway, for he's no milk-and-water kid. He had to 
 go through the mill when he was a freshman, just 
 as we did, and it did him good. I like Starbright. 
 He's a fine fellow. But he's a freshman, and he's in 
 great danger of coming to think that he is 'it'! He 
 has boomed right up, and he'll be wearing frills of 
 great importance round the gray matter of his think- 
 ing machine the very first thing we know. Already 
 he believes that he's better than any sophomore that 
 ever trod the campus or sat on the fence. This thing 
 won't hurt him. It will do him good, and tend to 
 make a man of him." 
 
 This sort of logic, directed to a fellow classman, was 
 irresistible. 
 
 Ready was not at all sure that Merriwell would 
 interfere; but, fearing that he might, for Dick was
 
 8 The Giant of the Wheel. 
 
 recognized as his protege, he contrived to keep the two 
 apart most of the time, managing to be with one or 
 the other whenever they met, and to so skilfully direct 
 the conversation that no opportunity presented for a 
 discussion of Dick's proposed ride. As for the other 
 students of all classes, they shut up mum on the sub- 
 ject whenever Frank came into their midst. 
 
 There was a lowering gray sky and a hint of a 
 change in the weather on that Saturday afternoon 
 when Dick wheeled up in front of the New Haven 
 House for his start. He rode a very high frame to ac- 
 commodate his great height. It was a heavy roadster, 
 not adapted to racing, but Dick had been able to crack 
 it up for good speed on more than one occasion. 
 
 As for his attire, Dick was comfortably clothed in a 
 woolen bicycle-suit somewhat the worse for wear, and 
 wore a visored cap. Like most Yale men, the cut and 
 quality of his clothing were of secondary considera- 
 tion, his only demand being that it would suit his 
 needs and be comfortable. 
 
 Jack Ready was there, to lead the cheer with which 
 Dick's departure was greeted, swinging his cap and 
 yelling, after a preliminary offer to double his bet, 
 which offer Dick would not accept. He was sure he 
 would win Ready's money, and for that reason he did 
 not want the bet raised. 
 
 Dashleigh was there, too, and other freshmen. There 
 were some juniors and seniors, also. But the larger 
 number gathered in front of the hotel were sopho- 
 mores.
 
 The Giant of the Wheel. 9 
 
 Starbright liked a bicycle, though he was too large 
 and heavy to become a crack rider. He was a good 
 wheelman, though, and he swung away with cheerful- 
 ness through the level streets of the college city and 
 out toward the road that leads close along the shore of 
 the Sound, following as closely as he could the railway 
 line. 
 
 He found the wind heavy as he began to wheel over 
 the Sound route. The breeze was off the water and 
 he was forced to bore into it quarteringly, which, with 
 the character of the road, made the wheeling rather 
 too heavy for pure pleasure. 
 
 Nevertheless, Starbright "hit it up" at a good gait, 
 bending forward over the handle-bars and thrusting 
 his visored cap into the wind like the sharp prow of 
 a racing yacht. 
 
 Now and then a farmer stared curiously at him as he 
 slipped by. This grew so frequent as he neared the 
 first of the half-abandoned summer resorts of that 
 part of the Sound that he dismounted from his wheel, 
 feeling that something in his personal appearance 
 caused these men of the hoe to inspect him in that way. 
 
 Having looked his wheel over and found it all right, 
 Dick took off his coat and inspected that. There was 
 no legend pinned or chalked on its back, and nothing 
 about him which could draw so much attention, 
 
 "The fellows act as if they had never seen a bicycle !" 
 he grumbled, as he replaced his coat and remounted 
 for the continuance of his journey. Yet that this 
 could not be so seemed to be proved by the proximity
 
 io The Giant of the Wheel. 
 
 of the summer-resort hotels, which poured out scores 
 of wheelmen for these roads every season, to make no 
 mention of the bicyclists of New Haven. 
 
 On reaching the first of the summer resorts, Dick 
 was surprised still further to find a number of men and 
 women, chiefly composed of the class who get their 
 living in the winter from the waters of the Sound or 
 by taking care of the abandoned caravansaries, stand- 
 ing grouped on a corner as if awaiting his coming, 
 and staring at him with undisguised curiosity as he 
 wheeled by. 
 
 "Don't think much o' yer wheel!" one of them 
 shouted. Then added : "No ; I don't think I'll buy one 
 of 'em next summer!" 
 
 Stopping by a spring for a drink, he leaned the wheel 
 against a fence, and a country youth came forward to 
 look it over. Dick would have thought nothing of 
 this if the young fellow had not asked him if he 
 thought he received enough pay for that kind of 
 work. 
 
 "Not doing it for pay," said Dick. 
 
 "Y'ain't racin' ag*in time, then?" was the bland 
 question. 
 
 "Not exactly." 
 
 "Can't say that I want to buy the wheel!" 
 
 "I haven't any notion of selling it." 
 
 Then the countryman stared at him. 
 
 "You ain't Jimmy Michael?" 
 
 "Jimmy Michael, the famous bicyclist ? No. What 
 made you think so?"
 
 The Giant of the Wheel. 1 1 
 
 "And ain't you advertisin' a new kind of wheel that's 
 a world corker?" 
 
 "Nothing of the kind." 
 
 The country lad flushed and moved away with ex- 
 planation. 
 
 "What's the matter with the fellow?" Starbright 
 thought. "Jimmy Michael? Nobody could mistake 
 me for Jimmy Michael !" 
 
 Still the farmers stared at him as he wheeled by. 
 Sometimes, when they beheld him coming, they came 
 close down to the road, often the whole family, and 
 stared after him as he passed on. 
 
 Once a young woman waved a handkerchief rogu- 
 ishly at him from a kitchen window. Dick began to 
 feel red and uncomfortable; and then, at the next vil- 
 lage, he was asked by a member of the mob that was 
 apparently gathered to see him, what the make of his 
 wheel was, and if it was to be sold cheaper than other 
 makes of good wheels, he inquired why the question 
 was asked. 
 
 For answer the man pointed to a large placard on 
 a wall: 
 
 "Richard Starbright, the world-famous giant of the 
 wheel, will this afternoon make a race against time 
 from New Haven to Guilford and return for the pur- 
 pose of advertising our new make of record-beater 
 roadsters. Starbright has beaten the record of Jimmy 
 Michael, and our wheels beat the world. He has 
 circled the globe in the interest of our wheels. Wait 
 for him! You cannot afford to miss seeing him!"
 
 12 The Giant of the Wheel. 
 
 "You look a good deal like a Yale guy, but yer 
 size made us think mebbe you was the man," the citi- 
 zen explained. 
 
 "Yes, I am the man!" said Dick hotly flushing. 
 "I'm a guy all right, too!" 
 
 "What's the make o' the wheel?" another queried, 
 walking round as if to inspect its fine points. "Looks 
 like you've rid it a lot. I should think they'd have sent 
 you out on a shinin' new one?" 
 
 "What countries have you ridden through?" queried 
 a vinegary woman in spectacles. "I do hope you've 
 been through Tibet. But if you have, the natives 
 did't treat ye as bad as they do some folks. I've got 
 some real good buttermilk, and if you'd like to drop 
 into my house a minute to rest and tell me about 
 Tibet I'd take it kindly. I'm so interested readin' 
 *bout Tibet that I can't hardly sleep o' night some- 
 times. It's the first house on the corner as you go 
 down a little white house with green winder-blinds." 
 
 Starbright was in a profuse perspiration. 
 
 "Thank you !" he said. "You're very kind. But I 
 must really hurry on. I've stopped too long now." 
 
 Then, feeling that the only way to get away from 
 these people was to mount his wheel, he hopped on it 
 and fled through the village, giving a glance at the little 
 white house with the green blinds as he swept by, and 
 thinking that perhaps the proper thing would have been 
 to stop there and talk Tibet to the inquisitive, spec- 
 tacled lady and sip her buttermilk while he thought 
 out some plan for outwitting his tormentors.
 
 The Giant of the Wheel. 13 
 
 "This is Ready's work!" he panted, as he wheeled 
 -down the road. "I'll have to murder that fellow! I 
 see there is no help for it! I shall have to take him 
 between my two thumbs and squash his life out as I 
 would any common bug !" 
 
 He tried to smile when the village was behind him. 
 
 "It's a good joke, anyway, and it's on your Uncle 
 Richard ! Of course, the whole college knows of it 
 now, and New Haven will know it before night. 
 Heavens! If it should get into the newspapers!" 
 
 Dick wheeled on so fast, hardly knowing now that 
 he was speeding, that he found himself approaching the 
 next little village almost before he thought it possible. 
 He saw the inevitable crowd gathered on the principal 
 corner of the street, through which he must pass unless 
 he elected to make a wide detour and avoid the village 
 altogether. Some boys raised a cheer as he drew near, 
 swinging their hats with an urchin's delight. 
 
 "I'll not stop!" Dick grunted, shrinking from the 
 thought of again encountering some one who would 
 ask him about his world-wide travels. "They'll want 
 to know if I've been in China, likely, and if I've 
 fought the Boxers, and how many I've killed !" 
 
 So he put on extra speed, lowered his visored cap, 
 bent over the handle-bars, and went through the street 
 like a streak of lightning. The boys yelled and 
 whooped, and he could not help hearing one citizen 
 remark that "Jimmy Michael ain't in it with that 
 feller!" 
 
 "Here comes the bikeist!" a boy was shouting to
 
 14 The Giant of the Wheel. 
 
 another group at the lower corner. "Come quick, 
 Sammy, 'er ye'll be too late !" 
 
 "Geewhiskers ! ain't he a snorter?" another boy 
 yelled. 
 
 The group broke into a wild cheer as Dick swept 
 past, pedaling as if he were racing for life. When he 
 had escaped from these innocent tormentors, he be- 
 gan to think over the situation and to ask himself if 
 he should go on to Guilford or stop where he was and 
 retrace his way to New Haven by another route. To 
 do that would be to lose his bet. Not that he cared so 
 much for the money or for the mere winning, but that 
 would give Ready and the sophmores a perhaps cov- 
 eted opportunity to guy him for cowardice. 
 
 No, he was in it, and there seemed to be no way out 
 but to make the ride according to plans and schedule 
 and win out, so far as that part was concerned. So 
 he rode on, wondering if there were no means by 
 which he could yet defeat the sophomores. 
 
 "Yes, this is the beginning of Frank Merriwell's 
 entertainments !" he rather grimly thought. "I didn't 
 know that I would be chosen to open the show in this 
 way, though ! Merry doesn't know anything about it, 
 I'm sure." 
 
 Merriwell was planning some festivities of an ath- 
 letic character with which he and his friends and other 
 students were to celebrate the many victories won by 
 Yale that season. The college had been wonderfully 
 fortunate and triumphant on the gridiron, not hav- 
 ing lost a single game during the entire season. Never
 
 The Giant of the Wheel. 15 
 
 had a Yale team equaled the performance of the foot- 
 ball eleven of that year under the leadership of the 
 redoubtable senior. And not only in football, but in 
 many other ways had Yale won honor with the victori- 
 ous teams Merriwell had trained and led. 
 
 There was a grim humor in Starbright which made 
 him appreciate the situation in which he found him- 
 self, even though he was the victim. At first he had 
 paid no heed to anything placarded on the walls, but 
 now, looking out for those glaring signs, he soon found 
 one stuck against the side of a barn. It was on the 
 side of the barn that was invisible to him as he came 
 toward it. 
 
 So this had been Ready's plan ! These glittering ad- 
 vertisements of the performance of the "Giant of the 
 Wheel," produced, no doubt, by some New Haven 
 printing press, had been skilfully plastered up along 
 the roadside and in the villages in such a way that the 
 wheelman approaching them could not see them. And 
 the chances were small that he would look back and 
 discover them after he had whirled by. This accounted 
 for the fact that Dick had not for a time observed the 
 notices which drew out the curious villagers and 
 farmers. 
 
 In the next village, which was also of the summer- 
 hotel variety, though there was a substantial element 
 of people who resided there the year round, a larger 
 crowd than ever stood in the street to await his coming. 
 
 The crowd broke into a cheer as he came in sight
 
 1 6 The Giant of the Wheel. 
 
 and wheeled up to the corner. He had resolved to ask 
 some questions. 
 
 "When were these placards stuck up?" he inquired. 
 
 "Yisterday. Say, mister, when's yer book comin' 
 out?" 
 
 "What book?" 
 
 "Why, the feller that come along yisterday stickin' 
 up the bills said that you was about to put out a book 
 tellin' about yer wonderful adventures with the Toltecs 
 while you was coastin' down one of them old Peruvian 
 roads in South Ameriky." 
 
 "What sort of looking fellow was he?" 
 
 "Well, about so high and so wide. He was a sort 
 of stocky chap with bright eyes and red cheeks. Come 
 to think of it, when he got off his wheel to stick up the 
 sign, I noticed that he toed in with one foot." 
 
 "That was Jack Ready." 
 
 "Was it? I didn't know! I believe he did say 
 somethin' 'bout bein' always Ready." 
 
 "Aw! that feller's a Yale man!" a boy was heard to 
 sneer. "He ain't never been in South Ameriky ner 
 nothin'. I know them fellers soon's I see 'em." 
 
 "Be you a Yale man?" an old man growled, not rel- 
 ishing the idea of being drawn out and fooled in that 
 way by a mere college student. He had walked nearly 
 a mile to see the "Giant of the Wheel" go by, and he 
 wanted his money's worth. 
 
 Dick was saved from answering this disconcerting 1 
 question by a young man with a pale face and large 
 nose, who crowded forward to inspect the wheel, say-
 
 The Giant ot the Wheel. 17 
 
 ing that he intended to purchase a bicycle the coming 
 season. 
 
 "I thought, mebbe, when I heard that feller talkin' 
 yesterday, that it was one of them headless wheels 
 made in Indianapolis. D'y'ever see one of 'em ? You 
 sort of set in the handle-bars as if they was the arms of 
 a rockin'chair. I didn't know but I'd like to have one 
 of 'em. I'm sure the feller said somethin' 'bout head- 
 less!" 
 
 Dick thought it quite likely that the irrepressible 
 Ready had referred to the rider of the wheel as "head- 
 less," or something of like character, indicating that 
 he was "easy." 
 
 "Well, perhaps I am easy/' he thought, as he 
 wheeled on, glad to be past another inquisitive village. 
 
 Bran ford Point, a favorite watering-place, turned 
 out a good-sized crowd to see the "Giant of the 
 Wheel," but Dick concluded that he did not care to 
 ask further questions or make the acquaintance of the 
 curious people, so he flew through the place as rapidly 
 as he could pedal. 
 
 He was making good time, even though the road was 
 not of the best, in spots, and the wind blew cold from 
 the leaden clouds in the northeast. He was warm 
 enough, in spite of the wind, and sometimes, when he 
 reflected too strongly on the condition in which he 
 found himself, and of the laughing sophomores in 
 the campus, he grew altogether too warm. 
 
 There were other groups to meet and pass, other 
 farmers who hurried down to the road to look and
 
 i8 The Giant of the Wheel. 
 
 wonder, other boys who whooped and yelled and told 
 each other to "git onto de legs of de Giant," and other 
 things equally uncomplimentary to the bicyclist 
 
 But Dick, having resolved to take the whole thing 
 good-naturedly 'and philosophically, smiled back at 
 them ; and, whenever he dismounted, he answered the 
 rain of questions as best he could, without revealing 
 that he was the victim of a sophomore joke. 
 
 But when he reached Guilford, the end of his route 
 Guilford, celebrated as the birthplace of the poet, 
 Fitz Greene Halleck he met a surprise that took away 
 his breath. In front of a conspicuous hotel was a 
 brass band, surrounded by Yale sophomores, with Jack 
 Ready prominent in their midst. They were waiting 
 to give the "Giant of the Wheel" a right royal recep- 
 tion ; and, as Dick wheeled up, almost too disconcerted 
 to know what to do or say, the band struck into "See 
 the Conquering Hero Comes!" and the sophomores 
 gave a yell that shook the building and almost rattled 
 the curbstones. 
 
 But Dick Starbright was quick-witted, and he pulled 
 himself together, so that he was able to dismount with 
 a smile and a bow. 
 
 "What sort of fool circus are you idiots trying to 
 make of yourselves?" he blandly demanded, walking 
 forward, pushing his wheel. 
 
 Ready wiggled his fingers characteristically. 
 
 "An immense one, old man, and you have been the 
 clown of the show. We'll take supper at your ex-
 
 The Giant of the Wheel. 19 
 
 pense to-night. In the meantime, you will find re- 
 freshments in the house of this publican." 
 
 He gave his fingers another wiggle and jerked them 
 toward the hotel proprietor, who stood by with red 
 face expanded in a grin. 
 
 "It's one on me!" Starbright admitted smilingly. 
 "But the end hasn't come. Before Frank Merriwell's 
 entertainments are over you Smart Aleck sophomores 
 will acknowledge that the freshmen know a thing or 
 two, and are more than your masters. And we'll not 
 resort to deceit to win our victories or to give us a 
 chance to 'holler'."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TO THE AID OF DADE MORGAN. 
 
 Jack Ready and the sophomores had rushed to 
 Guilford by train with their band, after Starbright's 
 departure from New Haven, and had easily beaten him 
 there, with plenty of time to spare. They returned by 
 train, feeling supremely joyous over their success. 
 
 Dick, however, in accordance with the terms of the 
 wager, was forced to wheel back to New Haven over 
 the route he had come, again stared at and questioned 
 by the curious people along the road. 
 
 The leaden clouds thickened and darkened, portend- 
 ing a northeaster ; but, with the wind for a large part 
 of the trip at his back, Dick sped swiftly along, ap- 
 proaching New Haven well ahead of time. 
 
 On the outskirts of the city he came upon a sight 
 that stirred his blood. Dade Morgan, who had been 
 out on a wheel accompanying Rosalind Thornton, 
 found himself confronted by a rough-looking man 
 whose brutal face was somewhat familiar to him, and 
 who planted himself in the center of the street as if to 
 intercept him. 
 
 Dade was not particularly afraid of the man, but 
 rather scorned him. 
 
 "Out of the way!" Dade roughly commanded. 
 
 He rang his bell furiously. Rosalind paled.
 
 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 21 
 
 Seeing that the man did not mean to step aside, 
 and having no desire for an altercation with him in 
 Rosalind's presence, Dade veered his wheel to pass. 
 The man leaped at him, thrust a foot out in front of the 
 wheel, stopping it, and Dade was thrown heavily over 
 the handle-bars. 
 
 Rosalind, who was close at his side, was also thrown 
 to the ground, though she saved herself from injury 
 and skilfully alighted on her feet. 
 
 When Starbright saw this he set his pedals in still 
 swifter motion, all his chivalrous instincts aroused. 
 
 Dade scrambled up ; but the man struck him a heavy 
 blow which knocked him backward. 
 
 "Dis is me time I git even wid you fer dat insult 
 See!" the ruffian growled. "Ye insulted me t'other 
 night, when ye hadn't no call. Now I pays ye back!" 
 
 Rosalind gave a scream of fright. Starbright, 
 swinging forward like a whirlwind, saw Dade dodge 
 the next blow and grapple with the ruffian and saw 
 them begin a furious fight. 
 
 Dade, who was a good, hard fighter, had been weak- 
 ened by his fall, so that it was evident at a glance that 
 he was no match for his burly adversary. He struck 
 savagely, however, and managed to release himself 
 from the man's grip. 
 
 The tough now struck at him, using a big doorkey 
 as brass knuckles, with the amiable intention of cut- 
 ting open the face of the "college dude." Morgan 
 evaded this and landed a blow, but the fellow tripped 
 him and kicked him heavily as he fell
 
 22 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 
 
 Rosalind, screaming for help, ran to one side of the 
 road. Dade jumped to his feet again, and, managing 
 to fasten on the tough, the two went down together. 
 
 Then the whirring wheel stopped beside the strug- 
 gling couple ; and, as the rough pulled loose and tried 
 to strike Dade in the face with the heavy brass key, 
 a blow from Starbright's big fist sent him reeling. 
 
 "Anodder college dude !" growled the ruffian, wheel- 
 ing about. "Ye'll wish 't ye'd kep' out o' this !" 
 
 His hand went to his hip-pocket, but he found no 
 weapon. Then he gathered himself and made a spring 
 at the newcomer. As a result, he ran his face into the 
 big fist on the end of a long, straight, stiffened left 
 arm. At the other end of the arm were something 
 like two hundred pounds of hard-trained muscle and 
 over six feet of young manhood. 
 
 A feeling of jarring surprise penetrated to the evil 
 brain. It was not often that he ran against anything 
 quite like that. He paused a moment to stare his sur- 
 prise ; and Dick saw that he was a big, brawny fellow, 
 with heavy jaw, small head and piggish, wicked eyes, 
 the type so often found in the lowest slums of great 
 cities, but seldom seen in New Haven. 
 
 The effect of that blow rendered the man cautious. 
 
 "Dis ain't your cut in, young feller!" he snarled. 
 
 Then, thinking to take Dick by surprise, he struck 
 out suddenly, with the force of a piledriver. But his 
 maul-like fist did not connect with Dick's face, and the 
 force of the blow almost threw him to the ground. 
 
 Crack ! Dick's hard right fist sounded like the smack
 
 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 23 
 
 of a board striking a house. The fellow reeled, but 
 recovered. His head was like iron. 
 
 "Wen I gits me fingers onto ye, ye'll wilt! See!" 
 
 He dodged Dick's next blow and rushed in with 
 the ferocity of a bulldog. Dick stepped lightly aside; 
 and the hard, white fist pounding the ruffian on the jaw 
 threw him senseless to the ground. 
 
 Dade Morgan, having regained his strength some- 
 what, was on the point of coming to Dick's assistance, 
 but drew back when he saw the man senseless on the 
 ground. 
 
 "That was handsome of you, Starbright!" he ac- 
 knowledged. "I'll try not to forget it." 
 
 Rosalind tried to stammer her thanks, but the pres- 
 ence of the ruffian, even though he was insensible for 
 the moment, made her wildly anxious to escape from 
 the vicinity. Some people were approaching, those in 
 the lead seeming to be of the same type as the fellow 
 knocked out. 
 
 Before their arrival the man was stirring into con- 
 sciousness, making Rosalind more than ever wildly 
 anxious to proceed. So she and Dade remounted and 
 wheeled away. 
 
 "Perhaps the fellow is your friend," said Starbright, 
 speaking to the man who arrived first. "If he is, look 
 after him. He interfered with that young lady and 
 her escort, and got what he deserved !" 
 
 Then he, too, rode on into the city. 
 
 Having reported his return, Dick put away his 
 wheel, and, feeling tremendously hungry, went to a
 
 24 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 
 
 restaurant and had something to eat. It was not until 
 long after nightfall that he went to his rooms. The 
 sophomores had returned to New Haven by rail long 
 before. 
 
 "Gone out nagging signs!" was the scrawl left for 
 him on the table by Dashleigh. 
 
 Dashleigh had not heard of what had befallen his 
 chum on the trip to Guilford, for the joke had been 
 kept from the freshmen. The sophomores had feared 
 Starbright would learn of it through his freshmen 
 friends ; and, besides the sophomores had other plans in 
 store for making it interesting for the men of the 
 lower class. 
 
 After changing his clothing, Dick went out to give 
 instructions for the "dinner" he meant to give to 
 Ready and other sophomores that night. When he 
 returned he encountered Dashleigh as the latter was 
 about to ascend to their apartments. 
 
 "What have you got tucked under your coat?" Dick 
 asked. 
 
 " 'Sh!" Bert warned. "It's a sign." 
 
 "Nagging," or stealing, signboards is, for some in- 
 explicable reason, one of the standard forms of amuse- 
 ment for freshmen. No one can tell just where the 
 fun comes in, unless it is found in imagining the 
 stormy anger of the storekeepers and others when 
 they find their signs gone, 
 
 "Had a great time!" Dashleigh panted, as he and 
 his chum hurried up-stairs. "Never had more fun
 
 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 25 
 
 in my life. Ready was with us. Say, that fellow is 
 a corker!" 
 
 "What time did he get back?" 
 
 "Back where?" 
 
 "New Haven." 
 
 "I didn't know he was out of town. Anyway, he 
 didn't say anything about it. We nagged a lot of 
 signs this evening. Ready went along to put us onto 
 % the thing right, you see. I hardly thought he'd favor 
 freshmen that way, but he was just as jolly about it; 
 said he'd been a freshman not long ago himself, and 
 that he hadn't forgot it." 
 
 "What kind of a sign did you get?" Dick asked 
 dryly. 
 
 He had cause to fear the "friendliness" of Jack 
 Ready for unsuspecting freshmen. 
 
 "The dandiest in the lot. It's a new blacksmith's 
 sign, or a blacksmith's new sign, and it has a picture 
 of a horse on it that is a real work of art." 
 
 They had arrived at their rooms, and Dashleigh 
 carefully unbuttoned his overcoat and took from under 
 it the sign. He stared at himself and the sign in 
 comical amazement. 
 
 The sign had been freshly painted, and his clothing 
 v/as coated with the paint. In addition, he had 
 slapped the picture of the horse up against his dark 
 new coat as he tucked the outer coat over it, and the 
 impression of the horse had been transferred to the 
 coat. Starbright could not help laughing.
 
 26 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 
 
 "Seems to me it is literally a horse on you! That 
 is more of Ready's work." 
 
 "Why " 
 
 Dashleigh looked from the paint to the red face of 
 his friend. 
 
 "Jack Ready?" he gasped. "Say, did Jack put up 
 a job on me?" 
 
 "He certainly did, and he put up another on me 
 this afternoon." 
 
 Dashleigh daintily put down the sign, stripped off 
 his overcoat, and sat flat down in a chair. 
 
 "Well, say, when I meet that fellow I'll kill him! 
 Don't you suppose there was a mistake ?" 
 
 "Biggest kind of one!" 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "When we let ourselves forget that Jack Ready is a 
 sophomore and we are only freshmen." 
 
 Dashleigh looked ruefully at his clothing and at the 
 fresh red paint of the sign. Then the humor of the 
 situation came to him, and he smiled, though the smile 
 was somewhat ghastly. 
 
 "I'm an idiot!" 
 
 "Of course you are. We're a pair of idiots!" 
 
 "What did he do to you?" 
 
 "Tell me about the sign first." 
 
 "Well, you see, I've been wanting to go out nagging 
 for several nights. Jack heard of it, and he told me 
 that he could give me some pointers. So I spoke to 
 some other fellows."
 
 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 27 
 
 "All freshmen?" 
 
 "Yep." 
 
 "So I thought." 
 
 "And Ready piloted us to-night. He showed me 
 this beautiful sign in front of the blacksmith's, and 
 told me that it had been up there only a short time, 
 and it would be a lovely one to nag." 
 
 "It had been up there only a short time !" 
 
 "Confound him! I see it had. I thought it felt 
 damp as I pulled it off the hooks, but we had a few 
 drops of rain this evening, and I supposed that was 
 the reason. Then I clapped the thing under my coat 
 and fled hitherward. And there the thing is. And 
 my beautifulest suit is ruined. Well, when I meet 
 him I'll kill him!" 
 
 "It will give a good job to some coat-cleaner. Bet- 
 ter tackle the thing yourself, while the paint is fresh. 
 There is some benzine over on the shelf." 
 
 Then, while Bert Dashleigh tried to remove the 
 paint from his clothing, Starbright told of his race to 
 Guilford and of the advertisements and greeting given 
 to the "Giant of the Wheel." 
 
 "Say, we'll have to murder that villain !" Dashleigh 
 whispered. "I feel to-night fit for treason, stratagem, 
 and spoil." 
 
 Nevertheless, after laboring with the suit and ben- 
 zine for an hour, he hung the sign against the wall, 
 went out again, and, meeting Ready, greeted him with 
 great cheerfulness. 
 
 "Thanks for the sign !" he murmured. "I've hung
 
 28 To the Aid of Dade Morgan. 
 
 it on our wall, and intend to have it framed as a me- 
 mento of our adventure." 
 
 Ready grinned. 
 
 "That blacksmith will be tearing mad in the morn- 
 ing. His sign hadn't been hanging there long." 
 
 "Confound you! Don't I know it hadn't? That 
 blacksmith never saw that sign in his life, and he 
 never will!" 
 
 "It had a beautiful steed on it !" Ready purred. 
 
 "A sort of transfer picture! I transferred it to my 
 coat!" 
 
 Then they adjourned to Traeger's and buried the 
 hatchet, after which Ready betook himself to the 
 dinner which Starbright was giving to the sopho- 
 mores.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SPORT WITH THE LASSOS. 
 
 The first of the "entertainments" was given that 
 night in the gymnasium. It was a roping-contest be- 
 tween Bill Higgins, of Badger's ranch, and Tom Blud- 
 soe, a cowboy from the neighborhood of El Paso, 
 who had been traveling with a "Wild West" exhibi- 
 tion and had somehow become stranded in New 
 Haven. Drink may have had something to do with 
 Bludsoe's loss of position and his consequent poverty; 
 but he was a fine roper, nevertheless, and in arranging 
 to put Higgins against him for the amusement of the 
 students, Merriwell was not at all sure that his friend 
 from Kansas would be able to win out and cover him- 
 self with glory. 
 
 Perhaps because Merriwell had seemed in some of 
 the class contests to side with the freshmen, Tom 
 Bludsoe was enthusiastically backed by the sopho- 
 mores, while the freshmen took Higgins for their 
 champion. 
 
 "It chills the corpuscles of my sporting-blood to 
 have to turn your picture to the wall to-night, Hig- 
 gins," said Ready, ambling into the gymnasium, after 
 his "feed" at the expense of Dick Starbright; "but 
 the sophomores have taken up Bludsoe, and I'm a 
 soph,"
 
 30 Sport With the Lassos. 
 
 "Oh, that there is all right !" Higgins grinned, as he 
 strung his riata across the gymnasium floor, to make 
 sure it was in good condition. "This hyer ain't fer 
 blood, ye know! Jist a little fun, to please Merry 
 and t'other fellers! I hear tell there's another feller 
 that's got a picture he'd like to turn to the wall." 
 
 "Dashleigh?" 
 
 "Picture of a hoss !" grunted Higgins, critically ex- 
 amining his rope and working at it with his fingers 
 to take out an incipient kink which he fancied he had 
 found. "I'm going to hold that agin' you !" 
 
 "He held it against himself !" 
 
 "Yes, so I heerd. But I'm a lover of hosses, and 
 I don't like to have even a picture of one fooled 
 with. That makes me willin' to champion these pore 
 freshmen fellers to-night, and I'll string ropes fer 'em 
 fer all I'm wu'th." 
 
 Indeed, Higgins was going into the contest with 
 "blood in his eye." He believed that he was a better 
 roper than the man from El Paso, even if Bludsoe had 
 been engaged in giving public exhibitions of his rop- 
 ing proficiency, and he was glad of this chance. Hig- 
 gins delighted in keeping himself in the public eye. 
 Though he was a noble fellow in many respects, he 
 was as vain as a peacock, and he "felt his oats con- 
 siderably" that night, as he stretched his riata across 
 the floor and walked round in his new cowboy cloth- 
 ing, with his great spurs musically clinking and jin- 
 gling on his heels.
 
 Sport With the Lassos. 31 
 
 Bludsoe was a lithe, wiry man, younger than Hig- 
 gins and smaller. He wore a smooth face, which was 
 as bronzed as a copper mask. It was a sharp, hatchety 
 face, keen and shrewd the typical face of the cow- 
 boy of the plains, whose intense activity, combined 
 with the dry, sap-extracting climate, tends to keep 
 down all superfluity of flesh. 
 
 The opening feature of the contest was an attempt 
 to pull down a tin cup hung by its handle on a nail 
 against a post. A large roping-space had been cleared 
 in the gymnasium by removing some muscle-strength- 
 ening machines and horizontal bars. 
 
 The room was filled to overflowing, the pushing, 
 laughing crowd seemingly the more jolly because the 
 night without was windy and inclement. 
 
 "Makes me think of the plains," chirped Higgins, 
 as, in a lull of the noise, he heard the singing of the 
 wind round the building. "A feller that's lived with 
 the wind as I have sort o' likes to hear its mournful 
 whistle. I've heerd it sing that way, wrapped in my 
 blanket, with the stars shinin* brighter'n diamonds; 
 and oncet I remember it had thet wail when me and 
 some other fellers was lying in a sod house, with the 
 Pawnees creepin' onto us through the grass." 
 
 It was amusing to notice how the Chickering set 
 and all the enemies of Merriwel invariably became 
 champions of whoever they thought was opposed to 
 him and his friends. 
 
 When Bludsoe pulled the tin cup from the post in 
 two throws and Higgins took three throws for the
 
 32 Sport With the Lassos. 
 
 same feat, the dickering- crowd clapped their hands 
 and stamped the floor in their glee. 
 
 "Say, I will have to go over to the freshmen side if 
 this keeps up !" Ready moaned in Merriwell's ear. "It 
 plants an ache in my heart and a desire in my foot to 
 kick somebody. Yet I seem doomed by fate to howl 
 with the Chickering set. Don't jot it down against me 
 in your book of remembrance !" 
 
 The next attempt of the ropers was to catch and 
 hold the corner of a swinging trapeze-bar, and as 
 Higgins turned to get his rope, which he had dropped 
 on a seat while talking with some friends, he roared 
 with rage. 
 
 His new rope, in which he took such pride, had 
 been split and ripped and cut in a dozen places by a 
 keen knife. Higgins reddened under his tan as he 
 surveyed the work of the unknown hand. 
 
 "If I kin lay my paws on the skunk 't done that, 
 I'll try to see if they's enough of the rope left to hang 
 him with!" he exploded. 
 
 He turned slowly round, with blazing eyes, and 
 looked over the sea of excited faces. 
 
 "Gents, is this hyer Yale? A man mean enough to 
 be a hoss-thief wouldn't do that on the ranges! All 
 I asks is fer the scalawag that done it to step up to 
 the counter and let me look at him oncet." 
 
 There was no forward movement, and every one 
 seemed to glance at his neighbor. Bludsoe sneered. 
 
 "I don't reckon that any of yer friends did that to 
 keep ye from bein' beat ?"
 
 Sport With the Lassos. 33 
 
 Higgins turned on him with those blazing eyes. He 
 saw that, in spite of the sneer, Bludsoe had no knowl- 
 edge of the author of the outrage, and his hot heart 
 relented. He remembered that Bludsoe was a brother 
 roper of the plains, and that plainsmen in a strange 
 land ought to be friends and not enemies. 
 
 "I won't hold that again' ye, pardner. If you beat 
 me, I'll know that you wouldn't do it by a trick like 
 that. Some skunk that never set eyes on the peraries 
 done that !" 
 
 Merriwell knew that another riata could not be had 
 in New Haven, and he was about to suggest that some- 
 thing be substituted for the roping-performance, but 
 Higgins asked if a common rope could be had. 
 
 "But a common rope won't give you much show!" 
 Frank insisted. "I'd like to have you win in this thing 
 if you go on with it." 
 
 "I'm goin' to win, b'jing!" Higgins vowed. "I'll 
 win now if it kills me! Send fer a rope!" 
 
 Then he gave more explicit directions; and while 
 some one hurried away for the rope, Starbright came 
 upon the scene, and was asked to amuse the crowd by 
 trying to beat the gymnasium freshman record for 
 hammer-throwing and putting the shot, which he did. 
 
 When the hemp rope ordered by Higgins came he 
 amused the students by showing them how to make 
 a riata from an ordinary hemp rope. To make the 
 "loop" he spliced an end back on the rope, wrapping it 
 with shoemaker's wax, also securing the ends from
 
 34 Sport With the Lassos. 
 
 fraying by wrapping them tightly with this wax. Not 
 a knot was used. 
 
 "The thing ought to be soaked in water fer two or 
 three hours," he explained, "and then stretched with 
 weights, but it'll haf to do as it is." 
 
 "If you can win out with that rope, you will show 
 yourself to be a much better roper than if you had used 
 your own lasso," Merry whispered encouragingly. 
 
 Then the rope-kings went at it again, catching the 
 trapeze-bar as it swung from side to side, roping stu- 
 dents who volunteered to run before them for the pur- 
 pose, pulling caps and gloves from pegs and doing 
 other roping-feats. 
 
 Though the rope so hastily prepared was clumsy 
 and inclined to kink in an aggravating way because it 
 had not been stretched, Higgins succeeded in doing 
 some remarkably good work with it, duplicating every 
 feat of Bludsoe. 
 
 The applause was pretty equally divided between the 
 ropers, for the freshmen, feeling that their champion 
 had been foully dealt with by some sophomore jeal- 
 ous of his ability, cheered every throw of Higgins with 
 wild delight. 
 
 "Try the trapeze again," said Merriwell. "Then 
 we'll try the cane, and those two things ought to settle 
 it. Higgins is handicapped, but we're banking that he 
 will beat Bludsoe anyway." 
 
 The first throw at the trapeze fell to Bludsoe. He 
 stepped forward, holding the free end of the lasso in 
 his left hand and the big swinging noose trailing in his
 
 Sport With the Lassos. 35 
 
 right. He took a keen look at the swinging trapeze, 
 then threw and caught the end of the bar. 
 
 The Chickering set went wild with joy. 
 
 "That's all right!" grinned Higgins, getting on his 
 feet. "I dunno 'bout this hyer rope, but I'll make my 
 try." 
 
 Merriwell asked that the trapeze be given a quicker 
 movement. It dropped like a bird with a broken wing, 
 and Higgins' noose flew up to meet it. 
 
 The rope kinked and seemed about to fall short, but 
 it caught the tip end of the bar, hung and tightened, 
 and the descent of the trapeze was stayed. 
 
 Merriwell had secured a cane, round whose center 
 he wrapped a white handkerchief to make it more 
 conspicuous. 
 
 "I want Gene Skelding to throw this cane whirling 
 through the air in that direction!" he requested, indi- 
 cating the direction. "Let him throw for both Blud- 
 soe and Higgins." 
 
 Skelding flushed and colored. Merriwell had made 
 some of the throws, and Skelding had been claiming 
 that the throws made by Merry for Bludsoe were not 
 as fair and easy as those made for Higgins. 
 
 He would have backed out, but the sophomores 
 pushed him forward, and he took the cane from Mer- 
 riwell's hand, and sent it spinning end over end, as 
 directed. 
 
 This was one of the most difficult roping-feats that 
 could have been chosen, for the object was to put the
 
 36 Sport With the Lassos. 
 
 noose of the lasso over the flying cane, and so bring it 
 down. 
 
 Bludsoe's noose struck the whirling cane, but simply 
 sent it on faster. 
 
 Then there were shouts for Higgins, and he rose 
 in all his cowboy dignity. 
 
 "Gents, I ain't a-sayin' that I'm goin' to do this, but 
 I'm goin' to try. I reckon I couldn't do it every time 
 with the best rope ever strung acrost a floor. But 
 I'm goin' to try!" 
 
 Skelding saw that Merriwell was watching him 
 closely and that the eyes of others were on him, so 
 that, in spite of his desire to make an unfair toss, he 
 did not dare to. 
 
 The wrapped cane flew out again, a whirling white 
 streak, and Higgins' rope shot after it. He had nerved 
 himself to make the throw of his life, and he made it 
 The stiff hemp rope swept through the air with the 
 sinuosity of a serpent, and the noose, dropping over an 
 end of the cane, brought the cane to the floor. 
 
 There could be no question that Higgins had won, 
 and won fairly; for not only had he won this trick 
 handsomely, but throughout the contest he had shown 
 that, even with the handicap of the stiff hemp rope, he 
 could do as good work as Bludsoe with his smooth, 
 supple riata. 
 
 "Curse the luck!" Skelding growled to his friends, 
 the Chickering set, some time afterward, when all 
 were in Chickering's rooms. "Do you suppose that 
 Merriwell knew I cut that rope?"
 
 Sport With the Lassos. 37 
 
 "Did you cut it ?" Chickering gasped. 
 
 "Of course I did. I wonder if Merriwell knew it ?" 
 
 "Well, it wath the handthometht thing I've known 
 done in many a day!" purred Lew Veazie. "Chum- 
 mieth, we'll have to dwink thome wine on that ! That 
 wath gweat!" 
 
 "But the fellow won, anyhow!" Skelding snarled. 
 "And what I did only made his victory seem the 
 greater. It was a regular boomerang! And my plan 
 was to claim that some of his friends cut the thing 
 for him to prevent ? im from going to the defeat they 
 foresaw. I can't m. xe that claim now, confound it !"
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AN APPARENT CHANGE OF HEART. 
 
 Sunday afternoon Dade Morgan received a call 
 from Donald Pike. The northeaster had turned to a 
 snowstorm. Pike shook from his coat the feathery 
 flakes as he came into Dade's room. 
 
 "There is to be a snowball battle in the campus in 
 the morning 1 , before college hours, between sopho- 
 mores and freshmen. I'm told that you're to lead the 
 freshmen." 
 
 "That's the plan now," said Dade. "Have a chair." 
 
 Pike hung up his coat as if he were at home, and 
 seated himself. Dade closed the door, for he had a 
 feeling that Pike desired to say something that ought 
 not to go beyond the walls of the room. 
 
 "There's only one thing in this whole business that 
 I don't like," Pike began. 
 
 "You mean of the entertainments?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "Merriwell!" 
 
 "There are others I like myself better than Merri- 
 well." 
 
 "That sounded funny. 'I like myself better than 
 Merriwell !' Of course you do." 
 
 "You know what I mean "
 
 An Apparent Change of Heart. 39 
 
 "It seems to me that these 'entertainments,* as 
 they're called, are planned solely to cover Merriwell 
 with glory. That's the thing I don't like. He pro- 
 posed them, of course. Some way, he always pro- 
 poses everything, and then the rest fall in like a flock 
 of sheep following their leader. We're not celebrating 
 Merriwell's victories, but the victories of Yale. Yet 
 the fellows are already calling them 'Frank Merri- 
 well's Entertainments.' ' 
 
 "You're warm!" 
 
 "I'm hot as a cake of ice !" 
 
 "I think I've seen you in that frame of mind be- 
 fore !" commented Dade, with the utmost coolness. 
 
 "Another thing I don't like, and which I should 
 think you wouldn't like, is the way he has of pushing 
 Starbright forward. He seems determined to make 
 Starbright the king of the freshmen." 
 
 Dade's face darkened, and Pike saw that he had 
 struck a vulnerable spot. Yet Dade only said coldly: 
 
 "I don't need to be told that!" 
 
 "And you haven't anything to say about it ?" 
 
 "I've had a good deal to say about it, at one time 
 and another." 
 
 "You're the real king of the freshmen, Morgan, and 
 
 you know it. All your friends know it. It's for the 
 
 freshmen to say who shall be their leader. Yet here 
 
 | comes a senior to dictate who the freshman leader 
 
 shall be!" 
 
 "I'd like to help it if I could. I don't see any way 
 to help it just now."
 
 40 An Apparent Change of Heart. 
 
 Pike was silent for a moment. 
 
 "Perhaps not. Merriwell seems to have the whip- 
 hand at present." 
 
 He glanced toward the door. 
 
 "No need to fear that you'll be heard outside of this 
 room !" 
 
 "Well, about that snowball battle in the morning?" 
 
 "We'll do up the sophomores, all right." 
 
 "I hope so. But that wasn't it. You ought to be 
 able to do up Starbright, also, while you're about it." 
 
 There was not the encouragement in Dade's face 
 that he hoped to see, but he went on. 
 
 "I've heard of soldiers being shot accidentally by 
 their own men! Stonewall Jackson was killed that 
 way!" 
 
 Dade looked at him earnestly. 
 
 "You want me to do that work?" 
 
 "Well, I thought you might thank me for a sugges- 
 tion. You hate Starbright. There's your opportunity. 
 When the fight is on, a snowball with a rock hidden 
 in it would bring that big freshman down like a bullet 
 if it was thrown right." 
 
 Dade flushed, and, getting up, took a turn round the 
 room. 
 
 "I'd do it myself if I were one of the freshmen 
 fighters. As it is, I give you the suggestion for what 
 it is worth." 
 
 He began to feel that Morgan would accept and act 
 upon the suggestion. Dade came back and sat down.
 
 An Apparent Change of Heart. 41 
 
 "I ought to thank you for that, Pike," he said in a 
 low tone. "I'm no better than I ought to be, and I 
 presume that if you had come to me yesterday, I 
 should have thanked you for this. But I don't think 
 I'll try to do what you say." 
 
 Donald Pike stared. 
 
 "Getting goody-goody ?" 
 
 "No, it's not that!" 
 
 "Just the same with all of them!" Pike snarled 
 under his breath. 
 
 "I don't think I understand you if you meant that 
 for me." 
 
 "Well, you are just like all the others!" Pike as- 
 serted almost fiercely. "I don't know why it is, for it 
 hasn't worked on me that way, but nearly every fel- 
 low who has started in here at Yale to down Merri- 
 well has done one of two things : He has either be- 
 come afraid of Merriwell and practically dropped out 
 of the fight, or he has gone over to Merriwell." 
 
 Dade's face was again flushing. 
 
 "There was Buck Badger! I've told you of him 
 before. He was the bitterest enemy Frank Merriwell 
 had for a while, and he ended by becoming a Merri- 
 well maniac. He thinks now that there never was 
 another such man on earth. Why, I've been told that 
 even Browning and Hodge, two fellows who can't 
 think unless Merriwell first gives them license, were 
 once his enemies! You're traveling the same road. 
 I was Badger's chum and saw how he went over to 
 Frank Merriwell, and you're struck with the same
 
 42 An Apparent Change of Heart. 
 
 symptoms. What in thunder is the matter with all 
 you fellows, anyway?" 
 
 "It was Starbright you wanted me to strike with a 
 rock, I believe?" said Morgan, not pleased with this 
 lecture. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Starbright isn't Merriwell." 
 
 "But he's Merriwell's protege, and when you can't 
 strike Merriwell himself, the best way to get at him 
 is to strike Starbright, or some other of his friends. 
 But you needn't do it if you don't care to. It was 
 merely a suggestion." 
 
 "I'm still against Merriwell. Don't let yourself for- 
 get that, Pike!" 
 
 "But you won't be at the end of the year." 
 
 "And I'm still against Dick Starbright." 
 
 "I don't think so." 
 
 "I've a reason for not trying to do what you sug- 
 gest. It isn't because I've suddenly grown too good. 
 Perhaps I have a little honor left, Pike, though you 
 mightn't think it. Not enough to boast of, I pre- 
 sume!" 
 
 "You haven't heard of it, but yesterday Starbright 
 saved me from being half-killed by a tough that I 
 met while out wheeling. The place was a lonely one 
 in the suburbs, and I was wheeling with Miss Thorn- 
 ton. I met the tough in a drinking-den a few nights 
 ago, and struck him with a beer-glass, after we'd had 
 some words. When he saw me yesterday he came at
 
 An Apparent Change of Heart. 43 
 
 me for revenge, tripped me off my wheel, and then, 
 while I was too shaken up by the jar of the fall to be 
 able to do much, he set on me, and would have 
 pounded and kicked me to a jelly. Starbright hap- 
 pened along at that moment. He took a hand in the 
 game and I'm here to-day, instead of being in the 
 hospital." 
 
 Both were silent for a moment after the comple- 
 tion of the story. 
 
 "He did you a good turn, and maybe you're right. 
 But really, I didn't think you had any soft spots about 
 you." 
 
 "You thought such a thing wouldn't make any dif- 
 ference ?" 
 
 "Yes, honestly, that's what I thought." 
 
 "And you thought I had no heart at all ?" 
 
 Pike was quite blunt. 
 
 "I thought you had something like a gizzard doing 
 duty for that organ. But it's all right, of course! I 
 suppose I'd feel the same way if any fellow should 
 stand up for me in such a fight." 
 
 "It wasn't a fight on my part. I was clean knocked 
 out. I would have been hammered to pieces." 
 
 "Let the thing drop, then!" Pike begged. "And 
 say nothing about it to any one. I didn't know you 
 had changed in your feeling!" 
 
 The sneer stung Bade Morgan. 
 
 "I thought I should never let an opportunity go by 
 to strike at Starbright or Merriwell. I'll get over this
 
 44 An Apparent Change of Heart. 
 
 in a day or two. But I can't forget quite so quick. 
 Starbright will do or say something soon that will 
 make me forget his favor, and then I presume I'll be 
 ready to hammer him up. But to-morrow, in that 
 battle, I'm going to play fair, so far as he's concerned, 
 at least." 
 
 "Good-by!" snarled Pike, rising. "You can keep 
 your face closed about this, anyway !" 
 
 "See here, Pike!" 
 
 The voice was so hard and commanding that Don 
 Pike stopped. 
 
 "I'm a fool ! Don't fancy for a minute that I would 
 mention such a matter. You've stood by me, even 
 though you're not a freshman, and I don't forget it. 
 Some other time I'll be likely to strike at Dick Star- 
 bright. Just now I feel a little queer about that mat- 
 ter, and I can't. That's the truth of it." 
 
 "I'm going!" 
 
 "Just remember that And if you've any bets to 
 lay, put them on the freshmen." 
 
 "If they win, Starbright will get most of the glory ! 
 It doesn't matter to me, though. I'm not trying to 
 beat him in the race for the freshmen leadership. You 
 are." 
 
 Dade Morgan sat for a long time in silence after 
 Donald Pike's departure. Finally he roused himself. 
 
 "I wish the fellow hadn't come to me with that!" 
 he thought, rising. "Either that, or I wish that it 
 hadn't been necessary for Starbright to come to my
 
 An Apparent Change of Heart. 45 
 
 help yesterday afternoon. I wonder what Rosalind 
 thinks about it? I fancied she was somewhat cool to 
 me after it. No doubt he is her hero now, and I'm 
 nothing. Well, if he wants her again, he can have 
 her!"
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STARBRIGHT SHOWS HIS LEADERSHIP. 
 
 The crisp air that blew across the famous Yale 
 quadrangle was filled with flying snowballs. The 
 freshmen, under the leadership of Dade Morgan, were 
 battling with the sophomores, under the command of 
 Jack Ready. 
 
 At one end of the quadrangle a snow-fort had been 
 built. It was held by the freshmen, and the sopho- 
 mores were allowed twenty minutes in which to take it. 
 
 The plan of the battle, of Merriwell's devising, con- 
 templated after that the rebuilding of the fort and a 
 change of sides, permitting the sophomores to hold 
 the fort and the freshmen to become the assaulting 
 party. 
 
 Behind the snowy walls of the fort and out in the 
 open where the sophomores were collected were great 
 piles of snowballs, the artillery, grape-and-cannister of 
 the contending forces. The snow was in the best of 
 condition for the purpose, balling readily under pres- 
 sure into light yet compact missiles. 
 
 Ready had directed his men to begin with a fierce 
 "rifle-fire" of snowballs, and then charge the fort be- 
 fore the freshmen could recover from the hail of balls ; 
 and the sophomores were doing their best to follow 
 his instructions.
 
 Starbright Shows His Leadership. 47 
 
 Nothing was to be used, however, but snowballs and 
 snow. Tackling with the hands, and all rough work, 
 such as kicking or striking or the use of other than 
 snow missiles, was strictly barred, and every offender 
 was to be summarily ejected from the fight, with the 
 loss of his services to his side, 
 
 Merriwell stood with his old friends Browning and 
 Hodge at one side of the quadrangle, all interested 
 spectators. Merriwell was the umpire to decide on 
 fouls of all kinds, with the power of expulsion from 
 the play of every offender. 
 
 The freshmen behind the walls met the rain of 
 freshmen snowballs with a counter-fire that was as 
 hot as they could make it. 
 
 "Better save our ammunition for closer quarters!" 
 Starbright advised, venturing to speak to Morgan. 
 
 The interference stung Morgan to the quick. 
 
 "Who's commander here?" he snarled. 
 
 "You are. I only make the suggestion." 
 
 Morgan moved away, and, as if to show that he dis- 
 liked the interference, he gave commands that caused 
 the freshman fire to grow even hotter. Seeing that 
 this was the order, and determined to be in the front 
 rank, Starbright flew to the nearest opening, and, with 
 an armful of snowballs, rained them on the sopho- 
 mores. 
 
 He had scarcely done this when he felt a crushing 
 blow on the back of the head which tumbled him 
 half-senseless on his face. As he rose, staggering,
 
 48 Starbright Shows His Leadership. 
 
 and felt of his head, he found blood trickling down 
 over his fingers. 
 
 The ball that had struck him had "exploded," and, 
 noticing it at his feet, he saw that in its center there 
 had been a ragged rock. 
 
 The air was filled with flying snowballs. Never- 
 theless, feeling wofully faint and dizzy, he turned 
 squarely round, cowering meanwhile behind the snow 
 embankment, and looked over the freshmen. 
 
 "Morgan did that !" he thought. "I'd bet anything 
 Morgan did that !" 
 
 Yet it seemed strange that a commander should 
 want to knock out one of his own men. 
 
 Starbright picked up the rock and looked at it. Then 
 he thrust it into his pocket and again felt of his cut 
 and bleeding head. 
 
 "Hello!" said Dashleigh, seeing blood on Star- 
 bright's fingers and the stain of it on the snow. 
 
 "Hit with this !" said Dick, producing the rock. "It 
 came near laying me out." 
 
 The big fellow was reeling sick, but he tried to con- 
 ceal it And as there was no possibility of telling who 
 threw the stone, he gathered himself together, tied up 
 his head with his handkerchief, and again went into 
 the fight. 
 
 Dade was now in front of him, at the head of his 
 men, though a short time before, as Starbright knew, 
 he had been in the rear. 
 
 As Dick straightened up and reentered the fight he
 
 Starbright Shows His Leadership. 49 
 
 saw a ball strike Morgan in the back of the head, saw 
 the ball split open, and, as it fell, saw a ragged stone 
 drop out of it. 
 
 Dade went down on his face insensible. 
 
 Dick half-wheeled to ascertain from what point the 
 treacherous missile came, but at that moment he col- 
 lided with Dashleigh and fell. 
 
 "Pardon I" Dashleigh bellowed, racing to a point 
 that he thought needed defense. 
 
 The fire of the attacking party was slacking, and 
 Dick felt sure that an assault was to come. 
 
 Morgan lay insensible, and Dick saw a red stain on 
 the snow. 
 
 "Was that an accident?" was his thought. "Were 
 they both accidents? If so, some of our men aren't 
 fighting fair, but are putting stones in the snowballs." 
 
 It was so comtemptible a trick that his blood boiled 
 and he felt ashamed that such men could be among 
 freshmen. 
 
 But there was no time for thought. There seemed 
 to be no time for anything, for, under the lead of 
 Ready, the sophomores were advancing to the charge. 
 
 Outside, the students and other spectators were 
 wildly shouting and whooping. The rain of snow- 
 balls had been' so thick that the fall of Starbright and 
 Morgan had not been perceived even by the keen eyes 
 of Frank Merriwell. 
 
 "Take care of him !" Starbright commanded, speak- 
 ing to two of the freshmen.
 
 5o Starbright Shows His Leadership. 
 
 These two were not in the fighting-line, but had been 
 detailed, with two others, by Morgan to manufacture 
 snow ammunition. 
 
 The freshmen had been weakened by Morgan's fall, 
 and now were wavering and undecided. But the in- 
 stant that Starbright sprang into position at their head 
 and began to utter sharp, quick commands, they recog- 
 nized his natural leadership and gave him instant obe- 
 dience. 
 
 "Hold them back!" Starbright roared. 
 
 Fierce as the fight had been, the ammunition was not 
 all exhausted; and the two men left for this purpose 
 began to heap a great mound of balls at the feet of the 
 fighters. 
 
 "Charge 'em!" came in the shrill voice of Jack 
 Ready; and, with their arms filled with snow, the 
 sophomores came on in a mighty, sweeping rush. 
 
 "Now, give it to 'em!" Starbright roared back. 
 
 Ready, in the lead, was right against the walls, with 
 a dozen of his men at his heels. 
 
 "Snow! snow!" Starbright bellowed. 
 
 It was a signal agreed on, having been issued by 
 Morgan before the beginning of the fight. 
 
 The snowballs in the hands of the freshmen were 
 thrown; then great armfuls of snow were picked up 
 and dashed into the faces and eyes of the advancing 
 sophomores. 
 
 Ready mounted the wall and fell over on the inside. 
 His men tried to emulate his example. Four of them
 
 Starbright Shows His Leadership. 51 
 
 came over with Ready, but the others were beaten back 
 and almost smothered. 
 
 Then Ready and Starbright found themselves face 
 to face. At it they went, each digging up snow by the 
 armful and hurling it at the head and face of his op- 
 ponent. 
 
 Ready fought blithely and chirpingly, pushing the 
 snow out of his mouth and eyes. But a great armful 
 fell on him out of the arms of the giant freshman, 
 and Ready fell under it. 
 
 As if in a frenzy, Starbright danced about, heaping 
 snow and still more snow on the prostrate freshman 
 leader, until, from beneath his snowy covering, Ready 
 was willing to confess his defeat. 
 
 "Let up!" he begged. "I'm not an Esquimaux! 
 My maux is full now, clean down to my twinkling 
 toes." 
 
 The other sophomores had been overthrown, and the 
 assault had failed. 
 
 The time was so nearly up that it was seen to be 
 impossible for the sophomores to take the fort in the 
 few minutes remaining. So there was a truce. 
 
 Two of Ready's men had been hurt, and another 
 of Starbright's ; but not by snowballs containing pieces 
 of rock. 
 
 Morgan was so weak from the effect of the blow 
 that it was seen he could not again assume the leader- 
 ship of the freshmen. 
 
 Sitting on a heap of snow, white and weak, he
 
 52 Starbright Shows His Leadership. 
 
 looked up at Starbright, as the latter walked over to 
 inquire about his injury. 
 
 "You did that, you sneak !" he hissed. 
 
 Starbright grew red. 
 
 "If so, who did that?" 
 
 Dick showed the wound in his own head. 
 
 "I was knocked down by a snowball just before you 
 were, and my head was split open. I saw the ball 
 strike you." 
 
 "You were behind me, then?" said Morgan, 
 
 "Yes, and I saw the ball strike you, and saw that it 
 held a stone. Here is the delightful piece of granite 
 that struck me!" 
 
 Starbright produced it. 
 
 "Well, you know I didn't throw that !" 
 
 "I thought you did, until I saw you get one of the 
 same kind. Now I don't know what to think!" 
 
 "Oh, I guess you threw it, all right!" Morgan 
 grunted. "You were mad because I told you to mind 
 your own business." 
 
 Starbright walked away. 
 
 "I don't know who did it," he said to Merriwell, 
 explaining the whole matter. "Dade thinks I threw 
 the stone that struck him, but I wouldn't be fool 
 enough to bang up my own head in this way." 
 
 "I'll try to look into the thing," was the promise. 
 "Dade is too weak to go on with the play. It was a 
 rascally piece of business, and I'm tempted to call off 
 the battle because of it. The freshmen want you for
 
 Starbright Shows His Leadership. 53 
 
 captain during the continuance of the fight if it's to 
 go on. But you're looking pretty weak." 
 
 "Oh, I'm all right !" Dick earnestly asserted. "Give 
 us another man in the place of Morgan, and we'll take 
 the fort from the sophomores, or know why !"
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CAPTURING THE FORT. 
 
 The snowball battle was raging again, with Dick 
 Starbright captain of the freshmen and Jack Ready of 
 the sophomores. 
 
 There had been some hasty preliminary work given 
 to the manufacture of an abundant supply of ammuni- 
 tion. Now, with great heaps of snowballs near each 
 man and deposited along the line of advance, and with 
 other snowy heaps inside the reconstructed fort, the 
 conflict was on once more. 
 
 "Don't throw away your ammunition. Take time 
 to aim, and throw to hit something whenever you 
 throw. It don't do any good to hammer the walls of 
 the fort. Aim at the openings and at the men behind 
 the walls!" 
 
 These were Starbright's instructions, and his men 
 were trying to carry them out. The balls for this rea- 
 son, did not fly so thick and fast as when the sopho- 
 mores were the attacking force, but they did quite as 
 much execution. 
 
 Starbright intended to make the preliminary "rifle- 
 fire" and "cannonade" comparatively short, and charge 
 suddenly, in the effort to take the sophomores by sur- 
 prise. But when his forces quickly ceased raining 
 snowballs on the white fort and swept forward, they
 
 Capturing the Fort. 55 
 
 found themselves confronted by the sophomores leap- 
 ing the walls and coming at them. 
 
 Ready had ordered a sortie in force, for the purpose 
 of surprising the freshmen. In the front of the walls 
 of the snow fort the contending parties came together. 
 
 Unfortunately for Ready's plan, some of his men, 
 seeing the freshmen coming, did not leap over the 
 walls, but remained behind them; and these, now be- 
 ginning to shoot snowballs at the enemy, rained their 
 missiles alike on friends and foes. Within less than 
 a minute it was hard to tell sophomores from fresh- 
 men, for each party, in attempting to shower and beat 
 down the other with armfuls of snow, found its mem- 
 bers transformed into snowy images of men, in which 
 clothing and features were hidden under the white 
 coating. 
 
 Again Starbright and Ready came face to face. For 
 a moment they stopped, looking at each other as if 
 trying to measure strength. Ready tossed back his 
 hair with a flirt of his right hand that at the same time 
 cleared the snow out of his face. 
 
 "I'm coming for you !" he panted. 
 
 "Here's where the Giant of the Wheel evens the 
 score!" Starbright laughed back. 
 
 Then, with armfuls of snow suddenly snatched up, 
 they dived at each other, and the hottest fight of the 
 whole field began. 
 
 Starbright had the advantage by being taller; yet 
 Ready was as supple, lithe, and active as a panther. 
 
 The air was filled with snow. Other sophomores
 
 56 Capturing the Fort. 
 
 and freshmen were struggling almost as fiercely on 
 every side, the sophomores trying to keep the fresh- 
 men out of the fort, and the latter desperately strug- 
 gling to walk over the opposition and enter the en- 
 closure. 
 
 Ready went down under Starbright's assault, but 
 clung to one of Dick's legs, as this could not be con- 
 sidered, he thought, a violation of Merri well's rules. 
 
 But Starbright, not to be thus impeded, sprang 
 for the fort, dragging Ready; and the latter, letting 
 go with extraordinary suddenness, Starbright fell over 
 the wall upon the inside. 
 
 A half-dozen other freshmen had scaled the wall, 
 beating back the opposition, and these now engaged 
 with the defenders of the fort within. 
 
 In less than ten minutes from the time of the be- 
 ginning of the struggle the fort was in the hands of 
 the victorious freshmen. 
 
 Dick seized the flag which had at first been planted 
 on the wall, but which had been knocked down, and, 
 mounting to the defences, swung it over his bandaged 
 head and led the almost breathless freshmen in a 
 cheer. 
 
 It was not loud, for the freshmen were too spent to 
 give the cheer volume; but an exploding roar was 
 added to it, coming from the throat of Bill Higgins, 
 the cowboy, who had watched the fight with great in- 
 terest at one side of the quadrangle, out of the way of 
 the snowy bullets. 
 
 "Whoop!" Higgins howled, yelling again when the
 
 Capturing the Fort. 57 
 
 freshmen yells subsided. "I'd never believed so much 
 fun could be got out o' a little snow. B'jings, that's a 
 sport I'll 'naugurate on the ranges soon's I git back 
 there. If I don't wallop and throw down and bury 
 Saul Henderson so deep that a badger can't dig him 
 out, I'm a liar! That's the sport fer the short-grass 
 country!" 
 
 He was speaking to Merriwell. 
 
 "Which Badger ?" Frank quietly asked. 
 
 "Which badger? Why, ye don't reckon I know the 
 names of all the badgers of Kansas, do ye?" 
 
 Then, seeing the pun, he roared again. 
 
 Starbright came up to them, digging the snow out 
 of his hair. 
 
 "How is your head ?" Bruce asked. 
 
 Starbright put a hand to his bandage. 
 
 "Oh, I was so determined to do up Jack Ready that 
 I forgot I had a head !" 
 
 "You didn't fight as if you'd forgotten your head, 
 anyway," said Browning. "You kept it on your shoul- 
 ders pretty well, I'm thinking." 
 
 "Yes, that was a great fight, Starbright !" Merriwell 
 declared warmly. "And you showed good leadership. 
 I want to congratulate you." 
 
 The words and the handshake that followed were 
 more to honest Dick Starbright than had been the win- 
 ning of the battle. 
 
 That evening Dade Morgan received another call 
 from Donald Pike. 
 
 Dade's head was bandaged, but he had otherwise
 
 58 Capturing the Fort. 
 
 entirely recovered. The blow of the stone hidden in 
 the snowball had been a heavy one, sufficiently heavy 
 to temporarily knock him out, but, with the exception 
 of the cut on the head, which promised to heal readily, 
 he had already thrown off its effects. 
 
 "Nice little souvenir of the fun of the morning!" 
 said Pike, nodding at the bandaged head. "I guess 
 you know you have Starbright to thank for that?" 
 
 "I did think so at first, but I don't know now. He 
 denies it." 
 
 "Of course he denies it! He'd be an idiot to con- 
 fess, wouldn't he?" 
 
 "Then who struck him? I didn't. How do you 
 account for the fact that he was also hit on the head 
 with a stone hidden in another snowball?" 
 
 "You're easy, Morgan!" 
 
 "What do you mean by that?" Dade queried, 
 flushing. 
 
 "Just what I say. You're dead easy. Starbright 
 threw that snowball. How do I know? Jimmy Sel- 
 don saw him !" 
 
 Dade straightened in his chair, while the dark look 
 on his face deepened. 
 
 "Did Seldon tell you that?" 
 
 "Oh, I'm giving it to you straight! You were so 
 soft that you declared you'd play fair in that battle, 
 and the man you were to play fair with gave you that." 
 
 "Then who hit Starbright?" 
 
 "He wasn't hit. He fell as he was rushing toward 
 the walls of the fort, and was kicked on the head by
 
 Capturing the Fort. 59 
 
 accident. The kick laid open his head; and he made 
 a great fuss about it for the purpose of making you 
 think that he, too, was hit on the head. That's all 
 there was to that. Seldon was in the rear at the time, 
 and saw the whole thing !" 
 
 "Why didn't Seldon come and tell me, then?" 
 
 "He's ready to tell you now !" 
 
 Don Pike pushed the door open, and a stripling, 
 with a pale, nervous face, entered. He came in hesi- 
 tatingly and stood with hat in hand till Dade asked 
 him to take a seat. 
 
 Morgan knew Seldon well, and did not highly re- 
 gard him, though the fellow had been one of the 
 twenty freshmen selected to take part in the snowball 
 battle. 
 
 "We've talked it over, and Seldon is ready to tell 
 you all about it," said Pike, as Seldon dropped into a 
 chair. 
 
 "Yes, I saw it!" Seldon avowed. "Starbright was 
 behind you, and he aimed that snowball straight at 
 your head, while pretending to be aiming it at the 
 sophomores. I was so close to him that I'm sure I 
 couldn't be mistaken." 
 
 "Did you see Starbright when he was struck?" 
 Dade asked, his heart flaming again against Dick. 
 
 "No. I don't think he was struck. He fell, and 
 one of the fellows kicked him. I think so, anyway, 
 for I saw a fellow stumble over him. A moment later 
 I saw there was blood on Starbright's fingers. But 
 I'm sure he wasn't hit by a ball."
 
 60 Capturing the Fort. 
 
 "Why didn't you make a report of it to Merriwell, 
 or to me?" Morgan demanded. 
 
 "Well, to tell the truth, I was afraid to." 
 
 "Afraid to?" 
 
 "Afraid of Dick. He would say it was a lie, and 
 perhaps try to take it out of my hide. So I kept still." 
 
 "And only told Pike?" 
 
 "Yes. Pike and I have been pretty good friends, 
 and we got to talking about the fight, and I told him." 
 
 "And I insisted that he should come and tell you," 
 said Pike. "I thought you ought to know it." 
 
 Morgan looked at Seldon. 
 
 "This is all right!" he declared. "I'm glad you 
 came to me with it. You needn't think I'll blab and 
 get you into trouble. It's not my way." 
 
 "I assured Seldon that it would be perfectly safe 
 for him to tell you, though he was doubtful at first." 
 
 "No, I won't say anything about it. But I'll get 
 even with Dick Starbright!" 
 
 When Seldon had gone, Pike sat talking with Mor- 
 gan for some time, trying to fan into fiercer energy 
 the anger which Dade again felt toward the big fresh- 
 man. Starbright was Merriwell's friend, and Pike 
 had come to hate Merriwell so much that he wanted 
 to injure whomever Merriwell liked, though Frank 
 had never done anything to win such enmity from 
 Donald Pike. There are some natures, however, which 
 increasingly hate the man they try to injure, and their 
 hate grows more and more bitter with each failure.
 
 Capturing the Fort. 61 
 
 Pike really feared to test strength with Merriwell, 
 hence resorted to the use of tools to accomplish what 
 he feared to attempt himself. 
 
 Scarcely was Pike gone when Roland Packard came 
 in with Gene Skelding. With Don Pike, they formed 
 a trio who seemed to live on hate of Merriwell. They 
 were no sooner seated than they began to talk of the 
 snowball fight of the morning, and of the blow which 
 Morgan had received. 
 
 "It was Starbright who did that," said Skelding. 
 "I know, because I saw it. I was standing near one 
 of the monuments where I had a good view of all that 
 was going on. I thought, when I saw him lift his 
 hand to throw, that he was aiming at the sophomores, 
 but when I saw you drop as if you were hit by a rifle- 
 bullet, I knew whom he had aimed at." 
 
 If Dade Morgan had doubted the story told by 
 Jimmy Seldon, this would have driven away his 
 doubts. 
 
 "It's all right, fellows, and I'm obliged to you. I 
 shall remember that little blow against Richard Star- 
 bright. You needn't be afraid that I won't. He did 
 me a good turn the other day, and I was feeling a bit 
 soft toward him, but I shall not hold back now." 
 
 "I don't know how you are going to even the score 
 with him," Packard craftily suggested. 
 
 "Oh, there are plenty of ways," Morgan snarled. 
 "I'll find a way." 
 
 "Or make one?" 
 
 "Or make one!"
 
 62 Capturing the Fort. 
 
 "Well, you know that you can count on our aid in 
 anything you want to undertake." 
 
 There were times when Dade Morgan despised these 
 tools. He saw their innate cowardice, but often he 
 felt forced to use them, for he knew he could not fight 
 the battle he had undertaken against Merriwell alone. 
 
 When his pretended friends had departed, he sat for 
 a long time alone, lost in thought, trying to plan some 
 means to "even the score" with the big freshman. 
 
 "I wish Hector King were here!" he muttered fi- 
 nally, as he prepared to turn out his light. "But he 
 has disappeared since Merriwell unmasked him. Given 
 up the fight, probably. Well, I haven't given it up! 
 I'll have to be careful, though, and strike in the dark. 
 Merriwell and Starbright are too dangerous for me to 
 fight them in the open." 
 
 Then he extinguished his light and crept into bed, 
 where he lay awake a long time, discarding plan after 
 plan as impossible or impolitic, and listening to some 
 freshmen singing in another part of the building. 
 
 The silver moon crept aloft in the cold sky and 
 looked down on the snowy and deserted campus. 
 
 Dade's heart burned when he heard the deep, rich 
 voice of Dick Starbright join in the rollicking college 
 songs. Bert Dashleigh was with the singers, gleefully 
 thumping his mandolin. 
 
 By and by Dade slept.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON LAKE WHITNEY. 
 
 The change in the weather had brought a change in 
 the character of "Merri well's Entertainments." Down 
 by the famous fence on many a recent evening the 
 "senior committee of three," fresh from the gymna- 
 sium or athletic field, had discussed and laid plans for 
 the merrymaking. The "committee of three" con- 
 sisted of Merriwell, Browning, and Hodge, into whose 
 hands everything had been committed. Their first 
 plans had contemplated field-contests, burlesque foot- 
 ball-games, and similar sports, but the freezing weather 
 suggested something new and different, and they 
 promptly accepted the hint of the weather-clerk, and 
 made the change. 
 
 When, on Wednesday morning, it was reported that 
 Lake Whitney would bear skaters, the "committee of 
 three" decided instantly that races on ice-skates would 
 be the proper thing for the half-holiday entertainment 
 of the students that afternoon. 
 
 Except in spots, the ice was found sufficiently thick 
 and firm, and the new attraction drew an immense 
 crowd to the shore of the lake that afternoon. Huge 
 bonfires were built, for the air was sharp and the 
 ground still covered with snow, and a prettier picture 
 can scarcely be imagined than that of the rosy-faced
 
 64 On Lake Whitney. 
 
 girls and young women clad in winter garments gatn- 
 ered round these bonfires, while they watched the 
 skaters cutting figures and writing the names of them- 
 selves and their sweethearts in the glassy ice with their 
 skates. 
 
 Inza and Rosalind were there, Inza having come 
 out with Merriwell, and Rosalind with Dade Morgan. 
 
 There was no prettier skater on the lake that after- 
 noon than Dade Morgan. His movements were as 
 graceful as those of a bird, and Rosalind watched him 
 with pleasure, now and then casting a sly glance at big 
 Dick Starbright, as if for the purpose of reading his 
 face. She wondered in the depths of her heart if Dick 
 were very jealous of Dade, and told herself that surely 
 he must be. 
 
 As Jack Ready had boasted that he could beat Mor- 
 gan in a mile race, and Dade had accepted the chal- 
 lenge, that was the first thing on the program. 
 
 "Oh, you can beat him!" Rosalind urged in the ear 
 of her escort. 
 
 "Of course I can beat him !" 
 
 Dade made good his boast. Jack Ready had chirped 
 of himself as a "winged wonder," but Morgan beat him 
 in at the finish more than twenty yards. 
 
 "Well, you see, it was this way," Ready explained, 
 stepping up to Rosalind as Dade moved to meet her. 
 "I knew how you felt about it, and that took away 
 my heart. No one can skate well with the wishes of 
 a handsome young lady against him."
 
 On Lake Whitney. 65 
 
 "Oh, come off!" Morgan snarled. "I beat you fair 
 and square, and you know it" 
 
 Somehow, Morgan had never appreciated the humor 
 of the fellow of the apple-red cheeks. 
 
 Ready wiggled his right hand in his bland way. 
 
 "There's a fellow over there you can't beat !" 
 
 'Who?" 
 
 "Dick Starbright." 
 
 Rosalind's dark face grew warm, for the words had 
 been caught up by Dashleigh and some other of Dick's 
 friends. 
 
 Finding himself growing angry, Morgan assumed 
 a smile. 
 
 "It's all right! I don't care to race with Star- 
 bright!" 
 
 At the same time he was anxious for the race, for 
 he fancied that he would be able to defeat Starbright 
 more easily than he had Ready. His face showed 
 nothing of the anxiety and plotting that had recently 
 harassed him, and as for the wound on his head, the 
 effects of it had entirely passed away, though there 
 was a scar concealed by the hair and the cap. 
 
 As Dick was nothing loath to meet his enemy in a 
 skating-race, the matter was quickly arranged, with 
 Beckwith for the starter and one of the athletic-trainers 
 for the timekeeper. 
 
 As the contestants skated away, Morgan remem- 
 bered that Rosalind had not insisted that he could 
 defeat Starbright, as she had that he could defeat
 
 66 On Lake Whitney. 
 
 Ready. He wondered about it, and his heart grew 
 hot. 
 
 "I'll beat him, all the same!" he determined, and 
 started in with clean, quick strokes, remembering to 
 skate handsomely at the same time, for the eyes of the 
 spectators were on him. 
 
 To all appearances, the big freshman did not seem 
 to be so good or so fast a skater as his slighter rival, 
 but the w r ay he went over the ice was surprising. His 
 stroke was longer, though not so quick, and it took 
 him forward with astonishing speed. 
 
 Morgan tried to draw ahead of him, but found Star- 
 bright hanging doggedly at his heels. 
 
 Away they went like birds down to the half-mile 
 point, and, turning there, came flying back, with about 
 the same relative distance still between them, Morgan 
 skating with all his strength and skill, and Starbright, 
 seeming slow, but still right at Morgan's heels. 
 
 The crowds on the shore began to cheer. Dade 
 heard it and increased his efforts. Then he heard Star- 
 bright's stroke quicken, and, to his dismay, saw the 
 big fellow go by him. 
 
 The fight to the finish was pretty. Starbright still 
 seemed to be skating slowly, and Merriwell, who was 
 watching him, saw that the giant freshman had a lot 
 of reserve force, and that he was not doing all that he 
 could. 
 
 Dashleigh danced up and down and almost broke 
 the ice through, so jubilant was he when he saw his 
 big chum in the lead.
 
 On Lake Whitney. 67 
 
 Rosalind was paling and flushing by turns, and even 
 Frank, who glanced at her occasionally, could hardly 
 determine whether she favored Starbright most, or 
 Morgan. 
 
 In the final twenty-five yards Starbright seemed to 
 lift himself and fly, and crossed the line easily and 
 neatly the winner. 
 
 The smile was still on Morgan's face as he returned 
 to Rosalind's side. 
 
 "My skates are dull," he said. "I think I could beat 
 him with another pair. But now we'll see what Mer- 
 riwell will do!" 
 
 One of the interesting things of the afternoon was 
 to be a race between Frank Merriwell and Jack Sim- 
 mons, a junior, who was everywhere noted as the 
 "Skate King." 
 
 The enemies of Merriwell were jubilant. They had 
 openly boasted that Frank would never dare to meet 
 Simmons in a race on ice-skates, though they were 
 forced to concede that in nearly every form of ath- 
 letics Frank was the best man who had ever been seen 
 in Yale. But Frank, though he had defeated Jack 
 Ready and some others, had never laid any claims to be 
 a wonder on skates. 
 
 He had not wanted to enter a race against Simmons, 
 for, in arranging the "entertainments," his idea was 
 to give others an opportunity to show what they could 
 do. Therefore, he had no desire to exploit his abili- 
 ties. But he had finally consented, when Simmons
 
 68 On Lake Whitney. 
 
 came to him and told him that he personally wished 
 to make the race. 
 
 The excitement over the previous contests was tame 
 compared with that now witnessed. 
 
 Frank came on the ice wearing the winged skates 
 which had been given him by Inza Burrage the pre- 
 vious winter. They \vere as handsome as were ever 
 turned out by a skate-maker, and on the heels, as orna- 
 ments, were pairs of tiny metal wings, in imitation of 
 the winged sandals of Mercury. 
 
 Jack Simmons wore racing-skates of the most ap- 
 proved pattern. He believed that he was really the 
 king of skaters, and he was anxious to prove his su- 
 periority to Merriwell in this great winter sport. 
 
 The cheering ceased when the skaters moved for- 
 ward side by side for the line, which they crossed to- 
 gether. It broke out again as they sped away, and 
 was renewed as the racers neared the half-way point. 
 
 "Merriwell is fooling again!" growled Hodge, who 
 was standing with Inza. 
 
 The skaters neared the half-mile turn, with Sim- 
 mons slightly in the lead. 
 
 "He will win, you may be sure," said Inza. "Frank 
 always wins!" 
 
 "Well, I've known him to fail, and often to come 
 near failing by being altogether too generous. It's not 
 my way !" 
 
 Inza smiled sweetly and serenely. 
 
 "Oh, I know it isn't, you fire-eater! You want to
 
 On Lake Whitney. 69 
 
 murder everybody who comes against you in a con- 
 test!" 
 
 "Well, if I could beat them, you bet I'd beat them, 
 without any monkey-business!" 
 
 There was no "monkey-business" as Frank came 
 down on the home-stretch. He walked away from 
 the skate king with marvelous ease, the winged skates 
 bearing him on as if they were truly winged. 
 
 Simmons spurted in an effort to lessen the widening' 
 distance, but found it impossible; and Frank shot 
 across the line far in advance of him, with Inza clap- 
 ping her hands in delight, and Hodge growling that 
 he knew Merriwell had "monkeyed" in the first half 
 of the race. 
 
 There were other races; between Beckwith and 
 Browning, which Bruce won, between seniors and jun- 
 iors, and between sophomores and freshmen ; races of 
 all kinds, from singles to team-races. Combined with 
 all of this there were many exhibitions of fancy ska- 
 ting. 
 
 Some boys came down to the shore drawing their 
 sleds. 
 
 "A sled-race!" said Inza. 
 
 Rosalind heard it. Inza was talking to Starbright, 
 and Rosalind's jealous heart was flaming. 
 
 "Starbright beat you before," she whispered to 
 Morgan. "Perhaps you can beat him in a sled-race." 
 
 "How?" Bade asked. 
 
 "Why, don't you know? When I went to school in 
 our village the boys used to skate races, drawing girls
 
 7O On Lake Whitney. 
 
 on sleds. Every fellow was anxious to draw his sweet- 
 heart in such a race, and to win, of course. You can 
 doit!" 
 
 Something in Dade's heart made him rebel against 
 the proposition ; but looking at Starbright, and feeling 
 keenly the rankling sting of his recent defeat, he de- 
 termined to offer the challenge. So he walked over 
 to the big freshman and proposed the sled-race. 
 
 "If Miss Burrage doesn't object," said Dick, his 
 fair face flushing. Inza did not object. She had seen 
 and read the jealous, look of Rosalind Thornton, under- 
 stood its meaning, and was willing that the race should 
 take place, believing firmly that Starbright could win. 
 
 "I think it would be delightful," she said. "Only, 
 if I should fall off while you are going so fast, your 
 skates might run away with you, Mr. Starbright, and 
 take you into the woods." 
 
 Merriwell might have objected if he had been con- 
 sulted, but this was outside of the program, and he 
 had no wish to interfere. At the same time, he did not 
 quite like the look in Morgan's eyes. 
 
 The race was to be across to the opposite point of 
 land and back; and as there were to be no official 
 starters and timekeepers or red tape, the arrangements 
 were quite simple. 
 
 The sleds were brought forward, the girls seated 
 themselves, and Starbright and his enemy were away, 
 each dragging his fair load in the race across the ice. 
 
 Rosalind now and then gave Inza a stab out of her 
 dark eyes, but the other dark-eyed girl affected not
 
 On Lake Whitney. 71 
 
 to notice this as they were whirled on almost side by 
 side. 
 
 The character of the ice made a divergence from 
 the direct line necessary, thus increasing the distance 
 to be skated. 
 
 Dick, who was not "playing" with Dade Morgan, 
 even if Frank Merriwell had been "playing" with the 
 skate king, reached the opposite point first, and 
 turned to retrace his way. 
 
 Looking back as he carefully swung the sled round, 
 he saw the crowd on the opposite shore waving hand- 
 kerchiefs and caps, and heard their encouraging cheers. 
 Then an increased desire to defeat Dade Morgan by 
 as great a margin as possible came to him. 
 
 When Morgan turned the point, more than twenty 
 yards behind Dick, his face was white and set. This 
 second defeat meant much to him. He had not 
 thought when he entered into it so readily that its re- 
 sult might mean his permanent defeat for the fresh- 
 man leadership by his rival, but now his heart told 
 him this was the peril before him. 
 
 To be twice defeated in one afternoon by Starbright 
 might bring about the enthronement of the big fresh- 
 man as the undeniable leader of the freshmen athletic 
 forces. 
 
 "I will beat him !" he hissed. "He shall not defeat 
 me again!" 
 
 "I'm not afraid !" Rosalind encouraged, feeling also 
 the sting of defeat. "Go as fast as you can !" 
 
 Thus urged, Dade swept forward on the home-stretch
 
 72 On Lake Whitney. 
 
 with all his might. He saw that an advantage could 
 be gained by pressing nearer the dangerous ice, and 
 to get that advantage he swung inward. 
 
 "We're going so fast that there isn't the least dan- 
 ger!" he told himself. "At this speed, one could safely 
 pass over the thinnest ice." 
 
 Then he swerved still more. 
 
 Suddenly Starbright, who, taking the safe course, 
 and was losing by this device of his opponent, heard 
 the cracking of ice and a scream. He stopped, turn- 
 ing his skates sidewise, and almost being thrown by 
 the sled, which ran against his heels. 
 
 Then he saw a sight that chilled his blood. The 
 ice had given way under Rosalind's sled, and she had 
 been thrown into a yawning opening. 
 
 She was struggling wildly in the icy waters. 
 
 The momentum had carried Dade across in safety, 
 and the dropping of Rosalind from the sled had pitched 
 him headlong. 
 
 Before he could recover, Starbright had skated back 
 past him, and, without hesitation, seeing that nothing 
 but prompt action could save the imperiled girl, had 
 leaped into the water to Rosalind's assistance. 
 
 The lake was instantly covered with skaters hurry- 
 ing to the scene of the disaster, among the foremost 
 being Merriwell and Hodge. 
 
 Starbright secured a grip on Rosalind's jacket, and 
 though the icy waters seemed to strike a chill to his 
 bones, he succeeded in holding her head up, and swam 
 slowly with her to the edge of the broken ice.
 
 On Lake Whitney. 73 
 
 A half-dozen fellows threw themselves on the ice in 
 a line, with Merriwell in the lead, crawled to the dan- 
 gerous and crumbling brink, and thus drew Starbright 
 and Rosalind out to safety. 
 
 Fortunately, carriages were in waiting, and into 
 these the soaked skater and the equally soaked and 
 half-drowned girl were quickly placed, and the drivers 
 lost no time in getting their charges into the city. 
 
 "I'm awfully sorry!" said Inza, as she and Frank 
 returned to town. "It was partly my fault But I 
 didn't think Morgan would be such a fool." 
 
 "There is no telling what a fellow will do when he 
 is angry or jealous!" 
 
 "Or a girl, either," said Inza. "I could see that 
 Rosalind was both when she saw me talking with Star- 
 bright"
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DONALD PIKE'S PLOT. 
 
 There was no more disgusted individual in New 
 Haven that night than Donald Pike. All his sche- 
 ming and lies seemed to have come to naught. Morgan 
 had not only done nothing to Merriwell or Starbright, 
 but had been badly worsted in every way. 
 
 He met Gene Skelding, and they talked it over, but 
 could get no cheer out of the situation. Roland Pack- 
 ard came along, in an equally unamiable mood, and 
 after walking round a while together, the worthy trio 
 climbed up to Chickering's rooms. 
 
 They found Rupert and some of his friends trying 
 on various sorts of costumes for the masked-ball of that 
 night. 
 
 This was another of MerriweH's "entertainments," 
 and it seemed that nearly everybody who had a right 
 to go was going. 
 
 "You fellows make me sick !" said Pike. 
 
 "What troubles you now, Donald?" asked Chick- 
 ering. 
 
 "Lotht on the watheth thith afternoon, I've no 
 doubt!" lisped Veazie. 
 
 "A plague on the races !" Pike growled. 
 
 "Why do we fellows make you sick?" queried Julian 
 Ives, looking at himself admiringly in the long mir-
 
 Donald Pike's Plot 75- 
 
 ror. Julian had arrayed himself in a glittering imita- 
 tion of chain armor, and was going to the ball in the 
 character of a Knight of the Round Table. 
 "For thinking of going to that ball." 
 "Oh, I wouldn't mith it for anything!" 
 "You're just like all the rest of the fools, Veazie !" 
 Veazie looked immensely fierce for a moment; then 
 concluded to change his attitude, and mildly inquired : 
 "I don't underthand you?" 
 
 "You're just helping Merriwell out! Can't you see 
 it? Now, look here! Yale wins a lot of victories 
 beats Carlisle, Princeton, Harvard, and everything 
 else that comes its way. The claim is made by Merri- 
 well's friends that Yale's glorious victories of this 
 season were made possible because Merriwell had the 
 running of things. Merriwell sits back and smiles and 
 fans himself and believes that he is 'it' ! 
 
 "Then the idea is conceived that it would be the 
 proper thing to celebrate the victories of Yale. Im- 
 mediately Merriwell is put in charge of that, as if the 
 other things were not enough. He and his two in- 
 separable chums, Hodge and Browning, are the com- 
 mittee of arrangements. They are called the 'com- 
 mittee of three,' and they proceed to run things to 
 suit themselves and favor their friends. Again they 
 contrive to cover Merriwell with glory. Everything 
 is Merriwell. Will you kindly tell me if we are cele- 
 brating the victories of Yale or the victories of Merri- 
 well? 
 
 "And here, now, I find you fellows arraying your-
 
 76 Donald Pike's Plot. 
 
 selves in chain armor and other togs, for the sole pur- 
 pose of going to Merriwell's mask-ball, that you may 
 help it out with your presence and commendation. Af- 
 ter it's over you'll come home, saying what a tre- 
 mendous success it was, and so help to stick another 
 star on the gilt crown of Yale's little tin god. I'm 
 sick of it!" 
 
 Julian Ives drew his long sword, and, holding it in 
 hand, stood posed before the mirror. 
 
 "Too late to help it now," he said, "even if all you 
 say is true, and I guess it is. The way the fellows 
 are talking, that ball is going to be a howling success, 
 and it will be that whether I stay or go. So I'm go- 
 ing!" 
 
 There was small likelihood that Julian would lose 
 any opportunity to put himself on exhibition. 
 
 "Well, you're a set of fools ! That's all I've got to 
 say!" 
 
 Eton Pike was too uneasy in mind to remain long 
 in Chickering's, and strolled out shortly, leaving Ro- 
 land Packard and Gene Skelding still there. As he 
 went away a thought came to him. 
 
 "Just the thing!" he said. 
 
 "What is?" 
 
 Bertrand Def arge clapped him on the back. 
 
 Pike started and bit his lip. 
 
 "I didn't know I was talking to myself!" he said. 
 "It's a bad habit, and I shall have to break myself of 
 it. Going to the ball?"
 
 Donald Pike's Plot. 77 
 
 "Certainly. There will he hosts of pretty girls 
 there, and I shouldn't want to miss it." 
 
 "Another fool!" Pike growled, as he and Defarge 
 separated. "No matter what Merriwell plans, not only 
 his friends but his enemies turn in to make a success 
 of it. Is it dead luck, or is the man positively a 
 genius ?" 
 
 Hurrying away now to a costumer, Pike hired a 
 cowboy-suit as nearly like that worn by Bill Higgins 
 as he could get, and, with the long lasso that went with 
 it, sneaked back to his rooms. 
 
 "Higgins has been drinking a little," was his 
 thought, "though the fellow has been awfully mild 
 for a plainsman. He wasn't drinking any to-day, to be 
 sure, but who's to say that he didn't fill up this eve- 
 ning? He's made himself a general nuisance here, 
 whooping things up for Merriwell. He's Merriwell's 
 protege quite as much as Dick Starbright is. If I can 
 bring him down and roll him in the gutter of dis- 
 grace, it will be a little something." 
 
 The trick he contemplated was a small one, worthy 
 of a smaller brain than Pike was usually supposed to 
 possess. 
 
 In an angle of the wall near the steps which he had 
 seen Professor Warburton ascend but a few moments 
 before, Donald Pike crouched in his cowboy garb. 
 Hiding his face was a mask which he had also ob- 
 tained of the costumer. 
 
 "If I can just rope Warburton, and make him think
 
 78 Donald Pike's Plot. 
 
 it the playful work of Bill Higgins, I couldn't ask any- 
 thing better. Warburton is a fellow who would hate 
 a creature like Higgins by instinct. 
 
 Warburton was, indeed, a man of considerable pom- 
 posity and self-importance, whose dignity would have 
 been outrageously offended by such a thing as Pike 
 contemplated. 
 
 "If I can do it, and Warburton makes a row over 
 it, as he surely will, Higgins will be in such bad odor 
 that Merriwell will feel precious small. If the thing 
 gets to the faculty, or into the courts, so much the 
 better. I'd like to have the newspapers of New Haven 
 make a few roasting comments on Merriwell's dear 
 friend from the Western ranches." 
 
 Don Pike had taken roping-lessons from his for- 
 mer chum, Buck Badger, and could throw a rope rea- 
 sonably well, though he could not be called an expert. 
 He felt sure, though, that if Warburton came down 
 the steps in his customary leisurely way that there 
 would be no difficulty in getting the noose over his 
 head. Even if it only struck him, that would answer, 
 for it would show what Higgins' intentions were and 
 serve to prove, also, that Higgins was intoxicated. 
 
 Pike expected Warburton to come out as he went 
 in, but the man who appeared on the steps five minutes 
 later was masked and wore a cowboy-suit which 
 looked, in the rather dim light, identically like the one 
 worn by Pike himself. 
 
 "That costumer lied to me!" was Pike's thought.
 
 Donald Pike's Plot. 79 
 
 "He said I had the only cowboy-suit anything like 
 that And I had no idea that Warburton would think 
 of attending that ball! He's masked close and tight, 
 and does not intend to reveal his identity." 
 
 If Pike had been given time for thought, he might 
 have reached radically different conclusions. He was 
 not given time, and thinking that if he made a mis- 
 take he could run away and the thing would not be 
 serious, he let fly with his rope at a venture, and 
 caught the supposed Warburton round the neck, giv- 
 ing, at the same time, a sharp jerk on the rope. Then 
 he turned to run. 
 
 The roar that went up was disillusioning; but not 
 more so than the noose that now dropped over Pike's 
 own neck. 
 
 "What in time d'ye mean by that?" came in the 
 voice of Bill Higgins himself. 
 
 Then Higgins began to draw in on the rope, pulling 
 the startled youth toward him. Pike tried to cast 
 the noose off, and, failing in that, sought for his knife. 
 
 All the while Higgins was drawing the scared stu- 
 dent toward him, making the air blue with his ex- 
 clamatory questions and objurations. 
 
 "I'll learn ye some sense!" Higgins howled. "I'll 
 wring yer neck fer ye, b'jings! I'll hang ye up on 
 one o' these hyer trees fer the crows to eat ! That's 
 what ! Why, you stepfather to a hoss-thief " 
 
 He almost fell to the ground as the rope parted 
 under a cutting slash from Pike's knife, and, having
 
 8o Donald Pike's Plot. 
 
 freed himself, Pike darted away, with Higgins bel- 
 lowing at his heels. 
 
 Merriwell and Browning came down the steps, hav- 
 ing heard the outcry. 
 
 "What's up?" Frank demanded. 
 
 Higgins turned back, finding Pike too light-footed 
 for him. He brought with him the rope which Pike 
 had dropped in his flight. 
 
 "Some feller slammed this hyer round my neck as 
 I come down the steps!" Higgins declared. "One o' 
 yer dinged student friends, I reckon, fer no real cow- 
 boy'd do another cowboy sich a measly trick as that. 
 Playin' cowboy! Well, if I git my hands onto him, 
 he won't monkey no more with yer Uncle William !" 
 
 The mask-ball was the success Don Pike had known 
 it would be. Everybody praised it and its excellent 
 arrangements. 
 
 Three nights later Merriwell's "entertainments" 
 concluded with a banquet at the New Haven House, 
 which witnessed a crush. 
 
 When the toast came round, "To Yale !" Merriwell 
 responded in his usual happy way. 
 
 "There was one thing I should have been pleased to 
 say in that little speech," he remarked to a number 
 of friends later, "but it wasn't the time and place." 
 
 "What was that?" asked Browning. 
 
 "It's a bit of news which I must convey to Star- 
 bright and Morgan. As the result of an investigation,
 
 Donald Pike's Plot. 81 
 
 I have discovered who threw the rocks in the snowball 
 battle which struck those two fellows." 
 
 Hodge was at once interested. 
 
 "It was Jimmy Seldon ! I ran the thing down, and 
 then confronted him, and he confessed. The fellow 
 has fancied from the start that he is an athlete, and 
 that he ought to be the real leader of the freshmen. 
 It was a case of unappreciated and unobserved gen- 
 ius ! He brooded over it. Perhaps it turned his head. 
 Anyway, he went into that fight determined to knock 
 out the men he fancied had without merit been chosen 
 above him. When the opportunity came, he threw his 
 prepared snowballs." 
 
 "You'll report it ?" Bruce asked. 
 
 "As he left Yale and New Haven this morning, and 
 isn't coming back, it isn't worth while !" 
 
 "You told him he would have to go ?" 
 
 "Well, I talked with him! He said he was going, 
 anyway, for he has failed in his examinations. Per- 
 haps that was one of the things that made him des- 
 perate. He is better out of Yale than in it, and Yale 
 is better without him than with him." 
 
 "And who roped Higgins?" asked Hodge. 
 
 "I don't know about that, but I think it was Don 
 Pike. He is likely to go out of Yale, too, very sud- 
 denly, unless he mends his ways !" 
 
 "A few other villains came near being unmasked in 
 this series of entertainments !" droned Browning. "I'm 
 keeping my weather-eye on Dade Morgan."
 
 82 Donald Pike's Plot. 
 
 "If it will show that scoundrel up in his true light, 
 
 we'll have another series!" said Hodge. 
 Then he arose and proposed this toast : 
 "To the confusion of the few enemies of Frank 
 
 Merriwell! To the success of his legion of friends!"
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 ROSALIND'S REWARD. 
 
 "I should like to know what you mean by that, Mr. 
 Morgan ?" 
 
 Rosalind Thornton stood before Dade Morgan, her 
 pretty lips trembling. 
 
 He had made an evening call on her at the residence 
 of her aunt, and was now on the point of taking an 
 early leave. They were standing together at the foot 
 of the stairs, under the red globe of the swinging hall- 
 lamp near the outer door. 
 
 "You don't know how pretty you are in that mood, 
 Rose! But perhaps you do know? It tempts me to 
 steal a kiss." 
 
 Rosalind Thornton was, indeed, a pretty girl, and 
 never more so than at that moment. A flash of hurt 
 pride made her winsomely attractive so attractive 
 that Morgan almost relented from the purpose he had 
 formed in his heart. 
 
 She drew back and put out &. little hand. 
 
 "You have no right to say such things to me !" 
 
 There was a glow of fire behind the unshed tears. 
 Morgan laughed in his usual reckless, nonchalant way, 
 and hurt Rose by saying roughly : 
 
 "Well, I didn't call to take you out riding this
 
 84 Rosalind's Reward 
 
 afternoon, as I promised to do because I didn't care 
 to!" 
 
 How handsome he was as he stood there looking 
 at her with eyes as dark as her own. She was as fully 
 alive to his good looks as he was to hers. There was 
 a mysterious something in his strong, athletic form ; in 
 the resolute face, smiling mouth, and white, even 
 teeth. Dade Morgan was undeniably a handsome 
 youth, aside from a trick he had of dropping his lids 
 down over his eyes, to shut out the strange glitter 
 that occasionally took the beauty out of them. 
 
 It was the magnetism of his beauty and strength 
 that had made pretty Rosalind Thornton willing to 
 hurt the honest heart of big Dick Starbright had 
 made her willing to turn from him and accept the 
 pleasant company of this man, who was his confessed 
 and deadly enemy. 
 
 Rosalind's affections were warm and womanly, but 
 they were not of an enduring type. She was, besides, 
 of a petulant, jealous disposition. She had at first 
 accepted Dade's attentions in the thought that this 
 would bring Dick Starbright to her feet as a willing 
 and devoted subject. Then she had suddenly found 
 herself captivated by Dade's good looks and winning 
 smile, and wavered in her affection for Starbright, 
 telling herself that, if Dick did not care to come back, 
 Morgan would be as acceptable, perhaps more so. 
 
 "I suppose I'm a fool, Rose!" 
 
 He again moved toward her. Once more she put out 
 a detaining hand.
 
 Rosalind's Reward. 85 
 
 "Yes, I think you are; but do not call me Rose, 
 please!" 
 
 "Rosalind!" 
 
 "Nor that!" 
 
 He laid his hand on his heart in mock gallantry. 
 
 "Miss Thornton, any fellow is a fool who doesn't 
 fall in love with you!" 
 
 "Thanks !" 
 
 The laughing smile which he so admired and which 
 he hoped to coax back to her eyes did not make its 
 reappearance. * 
 
 "You are quite angry?" 
 
 "You didn't care to keep your word this afternoon !" 
 
 Her lips again trembled as she thought of it 
 thought of the pride and pleasure with which she had 
 gowned herself the triumphant pride, which had made 
 her desire to sweep in Dade's carriage in grand style 
 past her former lover, Dick Starbright, whom she 
 was still anxious to draw after her, as a conquering 
 captor draws a captive. 
 
 Dade laughed and dropped the lids over his eyes. 
 
 "Well, to tell the truth, I came up here to-night prin- 
 cipally to say that I don't care to go out driving that 
 way any more." 
 
 The girl's cheeks paled. 
 
 "You're an awfully pretty girl, Miss Thornton " 
 
 She put out her hand again, but he went on. 
 
 "I don't need to tell you that, for you know it. But 
 there's no use of keeping this thing up, you see. You
 
 86 Rosalind's Reward. 
 
 might begin to think that I I care for you. To be 
 frank, I don't. I suppose you'll say that's brutal." 
 
 She dropped into a seat on the stairs. Dade looked 
 at her a moment, still handsome and smiling. 
 
 "I hope you aren't crying," he said, crossing to her 
 side. "When you seem so distressed, you know, it 
 makes me makes me almost lo care for you!" 
 
 He tried to take her hand. She dashed it away, and 
 turned toward him. She was undeniably crying now. 
 A strange thrill came to his heart. He began to think 
 he had been blunt and harsh. His pride was flattered. 
 It was something to make a pretty girl cry it evi- 
 denced the fact that he was attractive to women. And 
 he began to ask himself why he had not been content to 
 go on and make her believe that he cared for her? 
 His vanity was lashing him, not his conscience. 
 
 "I don't think you care to talk to me any longer," 
 she declared, in a low, icy voice. "At least, I don't 
 care to continue the conversation. I thought you some- 
 thing which you are not a gentleman! You were 
 going, I believe?" 
 
 "But perhaps I don't care to go. Perhaps I per- 
 haps I prefer to stay. If we can go on with the under- 
 standing that what we're doing is just for fun, just 
 for a jolly time and to make Dick Starbright " 
 
 "You were going, I believe!" she icily repeated. 
 
 Her eyes were very bright now, and, with the ex- 
 ception of a red spot glowing in each cheek, her face 
 was white. The tears had dried. 
 
 A step was heard on the outer step, making Dade
 
 Rosalind's Reward. 87 
 
 start He stood in a listening attitude and heard foot- 
 steps departing. Some one had been on the piazza, 
 and was now going away. Morgan stood a moment 
 in silence, then opened the door and looked out. The 
 electric light was more than half a block distant, and 
 the light in front of the house was not good. Yet he 
 saw a tall form moving down the street. 
 
 "If I didn't know that he couldn't be guilty of such 
 a thing, I should say that our good friend Starbright 
 had followed me here this evening and had been eaves- 
 dropping," he said, as he withdrew his head and 
 shoulders from the doorway and closed the door. 
 
 "I don't want to leave until we have settled this 
 matter!" he continued, still feeling that perhaps he had 
 acted too hastily, and that Rosalind was altogether too 
 pretty and winsome a girl to be thrown over in that 
 manner, even if he did not care for her. 
 
 "It is settled, I think!" she declared; then turned 
 from him and began to mount the stairs. 
 
 He looked after her, flushed and angry. He had 
 come to the house with the deliberate intention of tell- 
 ing her that he did not care to take her driving any 
 more, or to continue their further intimate acquaint- 
 ance, and had half-broken down in it because of her 
 beauty and evident distress. Dade Morgan loved him- 
 self better than anything else in the world, and his self- 
 pride had been hurt. Some way he did not feel as 
 care-free about the matter as he had fancied he would. 
 He had never cared for Rosalind Thornton, and had 
 used her merely as a weapon with which to strike
 
 88 Rosalind's Reward. 
 
 Starbright, but this was somewhat like the weapon 
 striking back at him when he sought to discard it. 
 
 Yet he did not try to speak to her again, though a 
 strange and fiery light came into his eyes, which, 
 through force of habit, he besought to conceal. Then 
 he put on his hat, opened the door without saying 
 "Good night!" and was soon trailing down the street 
 after the person he had fancied was Dick Starbright. 
 
 "Well, she's off my hands !" he reflected, as he hur- 
 ried on. "I guess it's better that way, though she is 
 deucedly handsome, and I might come to like her in 
 time, if I could ever like anybody! But that finishes 
 it, unless I really want to go back. I think I can do 
 that, if I care to try the trick. Likely I sha'n't care to 
 try it. I wonder if that was Starbright? It would 
 be a joke if she's been playing double, and Starbright 
 has been calling here all the time. But, no, he 
 wouldn't do that. Starbright isn't a chump, whatever 
 else he is !" 
 
 He failed to see Starbright or any one resembling 
 him. 
 
 "Taken an electric for down-town, I suppose!" 
 
 Then his thoughts went back to Rosalind. 
 
 " 'Umph! Women cry easily; but crying sometimes 
 makes them pretty!" 
 
 Hurt, angered, humiliated, Rosalind had rushed into 
 her room, thrown herself on her bed, and was crying 
 as if her foolish little heart were about to break.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HAZERS IN MERRY MOOD. 
 
 The youth who had stood for a moment on the steps 
 of the residence of Mrs. Virgil Throckmorton had 
 indeed been Dick Starbright. He had chanced to pass 
 along the street, and a sudden impulse had taken him 
 to the door. His friend, Bert Dashleigh, had told 
 him that Rosalind was soon to leave New Haven. A 
 desire to see her and have a few words with her be- 
 fore she went away sent him up the steps, where he 
 became an unwilling listener to some of the words 
 spoken by her and Morgan, for Morgan had spoken 
 louder than he knew. 
 
 "I guess I've made a mistake!" he had grumbled to 
 himself, his heart flaming against the conduct of the 
 youth whose words he had overheard; and he had 
 beaten a quick retreat to the street, mentally raging 
 against Morgan, and assuring himself that he had 
 been an idiot for yielding to the temptation to speak 
 again to Rosalind. 
 
 His thought, as he went down the street toward the 
 car-line, was to wait for Morgan and demand an ex- 
 plantation; but he did not do this, and, flinging himself 
 into the first electric that came along, he rode back to 
 the campus. The recent snow had passed away in a
 
 90 Hazers in Merry Mood. 
 
 rain-storm, which had been followed by a return of 
 sharp, frosty weather. 
 
 He found the famous quadrangle filled with college 
 men, who seemed to be having a high old time about 
 something. Dashleigh caught him by the arm. 
 
 "What's up?" Dick demanded. 
 
 "I don't know. They're roping in the freshmen. 
 Perhaps we'd better make ourselves scarce." 
 
 But Starbright had already been sighted. 
 
 "Oh, Starbright! Come bow to the golden image!" 
 was shouted from the crowd. 
 
 Dashleigh started to run, but he found himself op- 
 posed by Bingham and Jack Ready, who cleverly 
 tripped him as he put his nimble legs in motion. 
 
 "Refuse me!" said Ready, thrusting out his right 
 hand in a wiggling way as he planted himself before 
 Starbright. "Will you go of your own 'cord, or shall 
 we cord you ?" 
 
 He had an arm linked through one of Dashleigh's, 
 while Bingham was holding Dashleigh up on the other 
 side. 
 
 "What's up?" Dick calmly asked. 
 
 "We are! It isn't late, you see!" 
 
 He saw other sophomores gathering round him, but 
 made no attempt to run. Down near the fence was 
 a howling mob of students, mostly sophomores and 
 freshmen, who seemed to be dancing a war-dance 
 about a captive. 
 
 "There was a fellow in the Scripture " Ready 
 
 began.
 
 Hazers in Merry Mood. 91 
 
 "Oh, there was !" Dick interrupted. 
 
 "No impertinence, freshman !" cried Ready, blowing 
 out his red cheeks. "There was a fellow in Scripture 
 who was commanded to bow before the image of 
 Somebody-or-other, and he refused, and awful things 
 happened to him!" 
 
 "Yes; I remember that he came out all right in the 
 end!" 
 
 "Oh, did he? I'll have to quit quoting Scripture, or 
 go to studying it. But you'll not come out all right in 
 the end." 
 
 Dashleigh tripped Bingham and tried to break away. 
 
 "Oh, gentle friend, why dost thou try to flee?" 
 Ready purred, holding onto Bert with iron grip. 
 "Dost thou not see that the enemy surrounds thee?" 
 
 "What's up?" Starbright again asked. 
 
 "Morgan! Morgan!" came as if in answer; and it 
 seemed strange to Starbright, too, for he was thinking 
 more of Morgan at the moment than he was of what 
 Ready was saying, or of the antics of the rollicking 
 sophomores near the fence. 
 
 For the sophomores, he cared little enough, having 
 long ago made up his mind that the only way to deal 
 with them was to let them have their way, if it was not 
 too rough, and so get rid of them in the shortest order. 
 
 Morgan, following Starbright toward the campus, 
 had been suddenly surrounded by a lot of sophomores 
 who seemed to be lying in wait near the entrance to 
 capture straggling freshmen. Morgan was in an ugly
 
 92 Hazers in Merry Mood. 
 
 mood, because of the events of the evening; and, in- 
 stead of gracefully submitting, he began to fight, using 
 his fists freely. In consequence of this he was roughly 
 thrown down, tied snug and tight with a stout cord, 
 and then carried bodily toward the rioting mob near 
 the fence, who seemed to be waiting for just such ob- 
 streperous victims. 
 
 "I guess I'll go along and see the fun !" said Star- 
 bright good-humoredly, though his heart was panting 
 against Dade Morgan. Then to himself, as he moved 
 en with Dashleigh and another freshman who had 
 been caught in the sophomore net, he said: 
 
 "I'll see Morgan after this thing is over, whatever it 
 may be. I'll see him, ask him some questions, and 
 get the answers, too!" 
 
 The howling mob gave way, and Starbright saw a 
 large picture of the rotund proprietor of "Billie's," the 
 freshman inn. It was a mere daub on wood, displaying 
 the round stomach and the shining, bald head of the 
 genial proprietor. It had been painted by some humor- 
 ous student and placed in front of "Billie's" one night 
 in lieu of a sign-board which some other student 
 or students had stolen. The proprietor, knowing 
 the ways of college youths, had smiled his benediction 
 on it and set it up over the show-case between his two 
 front parlor windows. 
 
 And now this gem of art had been surreptitiously 
 extracted from the tavern, and all the freshmen caught 
 in the sophomore drag-net that jubilant, crisp evening
 
 Hazers in Merry Mood. 93 
 
 were being made to go down on their knees before it 
 and affectionately kiss the bald head. 
 
 Morgan was hurt and indignant. He somehow 
 fancied that, because he was conspicuous as a leader 
 of the freshmen and had done many things to draw 
 about him a circle of adherents, he should not be 
 forced to do so humiliating a thing as to kneel on 
 the frosty sand and plant an unctuous kiss on the 
 pictured bald head. 
 
 "Oh, you didn't half-salute Billie!" Bingham de- 
 clared, giving Morgan a push that almost drove his 
 nose through the wood on which the portrait was 
 drawn. "If you should plant a kiss like that on the 
 ruby lips of your best girl she would have odious 
 opinions of you." 
 
 "Oh, let up!" Morgan growled. "This is too silly 
 for anything!" 
 
 "Except freshmen!" said Bingham. "Salute the 
 bald spot of the human billiard-cue in a respectful 
 manner, or " 
 
 Two or three sophomores caught Morgan by the 
 neck and shoulders and forced his lips to the picture, 
 and held him there, in spite of his protestations, while 
 he kissed Billie's bald head over and over again. 
 When released he was mad clean through. 
 
 Starbright was pushed up to the daub, murmuring, 
 though he was known never to drink : 
 
 "Oh, thou human punch-bowl, thou concocter of 
 that nectar of the gods! How I love thee!"
 
 94 Hazers in Merry Mood. 
 
 He appeared to want to take the picture to his bosom 
 in a rapturous embrace, but was dragged back. 
 
 "Thou varlet!" cried Ready, pleased with Star- 
 bright's apparent nonchalance, which was in such 
 marked contrast to Morgan's fuming rage. "Avaunt, 
 there! A dog is not privileged to embrace a king!" 
 
 "The dog was merely trying to bite him !" chattered 
 Bingham. 
 
 "Your pardon !" said Starbright. "The dog mistook 
 his baldness for a link of sausage!" 
 
 "And thought he recognized a kinship!" laughed 
 Greg Carker. 
 
 At which sally from the solemn and philosophical 
 Carker the boisterous sophomores cackled with glee. 
 
 The twang of a mandolin was heard, as Bert Dash- 
 leigh was made to waddle forward on all fours and 
 kiss the shiny pate of the pictured host. It was Dash- 
 leigh's own mandolin, produced by a student who had 
 hastily invaded Dashleigh's room for the purpose. 
 
 "How did you get in?" Bert coolly asked, stopping 
 in the midst of his osculatory adorations. 
 
 "Fell through the transom," said the student. "Why 
 the dickens do you always keep your door locked? 
 That transom is so contracted that I sprained my wish- 
 bone." 
 
 "Good thing if you had sprained your neck!" Bert 
 flung back; and was then dragged away, lest in his 
 fervent kissing he should lick all the paint off the wood. 
 
 Two stools were produced from some invisible 
 source, and, while other freshmen were compelled to
 
 Hazers in Merry Mood. 95 
 
 bow before and kiss the picture, Dashleigh and Star- 
 bright were made to sit on the stools and sing : 
 
 "Oh, who will smoke my meerschaum pipe, meerschaum pipe? 
 Oh, who will smoke my meerschaum pipe, meerschaum pipe? 
 Oh, who will smoke my meerschaum pipe, when I am far away? 
 
 "Oh, who will go to see my girl, see my girl? 
 Oh, who will go to see my girl, see my girl? 
 Oh, who will go to see my girl, when I am far away? 
 
 "Oh, who will kiss her ruby lips, ruby lips? 
 Oh, who will kiss her ruby lips, ruby lips? 
 Oh, who will kiss her ruby lips, when I am far away? 
 
 "Oh, who will squeeze her snow-white hand, snow-white hand? 
 Oh, who will squeeze her snow-white hand, snow-white hand? 
 Oh, who will squeeze her snow-white hand, when I am far 
 away ?" 
 
 It was one of those popular college songs which can 
 run on forever, like Tennyson's brook, and never get 
 weary; and while Dashleigh thumped away on the 
 mandolin and he and Dick bawled out every variation 
 and every verse they had ever heard of or could think 
 of, the captured freshmen were, one by one, forced 
 to crawl reluctantly forward and honor the proprietor 
 of "Billie's." 
 
 It was all very funny to the sophomores, and to 
 students who, like Dick and Bert, could take the thing 
 coolly and good-humoredly. To others it was gall 
 and wormwood. Morgan was brought back three 
 times and made to moisten the top of "Billie's" head 
 with his "roseate spoon-bill," as Jack Ready facetiously
 
 96 Hazers in Merry Mood. 
 
 termed Dade's lips, and Dade grew madder and mad- 
 der, until he was in a fighting-mood. 
 
 When released at last he stumbled blindly away, 
 vowing vengeance on the whole tribe of Yale sopho- 
 mores. As he pitched on in the semigloom, almost too 
 blind to see which way he was going, he heard his 
 name called, and, turning about, beheld what he took 
 to be one of the tormenting sophomores. 
 
 "If you follow me any farther, I'll spread your nose 
 all over your face!" he threatened. 
 
 Whereupon the supposed sophomore drew nearer, 
 laughing in a silent, mirthless way. 
 
 "My dear Dade, you are losing your customary 
 calm !" came the warning in a familiar voice. 
 
 The supposed sophomore was Hector King.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 SETTLING A SCORE. 
 
 Hector King's disguise was so very superficial that 
 Dade wondered at the daring of the man. Yet it was 
 more effective than an elaborate disguise would have 
 been. His face and hands were darkened, his hair 
 cut short, and his dress was that of one of the numer- 
 ous "sweeps" who take care of the rooms of the Yale 
 students. The disguise had served so well that King 
 had been able to hover on the outskirts of the sopho- 
 more mob without detection or question. 
 
 The last time Dade Morgan had seen the man 
 whom he had come to call Hector King, the latter 
 was in the disguise of a Hindu juggler. The pre- 
 tended juggler had been unmasked by Frank Merri- 
 well, to whom he stood revealed as Brandon Drood, 
 alias Dion Santenel, the hypnotist, the deadly enemy 
 of Frank and his father, whose ruin and disgrace he 
 sought with a bitterness and tenacity almost beyond 
 comprehension. Dade had dragged him from the 
 room in which Merriwell had hypnotized him, and 
 forced from him an important confession Frank 
 having overthrown him by his own methods, in his 
 chosen field, and on his own battle-ground had 
 dragged him away, and thus prevented Frank from
 
 98 Settling a Score. 
 
 making him a prisoner and taking steps for his punish- 
 ment. 
 
 "You are losing your customary calm!" Santenel 
 cynically repeated. 
 
 "And it seems to me you are losing your customary 
 caution !" 
 
 "I can look out for myself I" Santenel answered 
 somewhat tartly. "You lost your temper and made an 
 ass of yourself. How long do you suppose you can 
 hold your influence in Yale by acting in that way ? A 
 man who would be a master of others must learn first 
 to master himself. That is the very primer of the 
 whole thing the first lesson." 
 
 "Oh, well!" Dade snarled. "That stuff made me 
 sick!" 
 
 He was about to say more, but ceased when he ob- 
 served that they were being followed. 
 
 "That's a student, sure! Yes, and it's Dick Star- 
 bright!" 
 
 "Let's move on!" said Santenel. "I don't care to 
 make intimate acquaintances among your student 
 friends." 
 
 He emphasized the word "friends" in a way that 
 made Dade writhe, for he knew how Dade hated the 
 big freshman. Though they walked on, it was soon 
 apparent that Starbright was following them. They 
 did not like the lighted streets, so they turned into the 
 green, but Starbright sauntered after them. 
 
 "I'm going to halt and see what the scoundrel
 
 Settling a Score. 99 
 
 means by that," Dade declared, stopping. Santenel 
 did not object, but walked on. 
 
 Dade waited impatiently and angrily by the side of 
 the path. 
 
 "You've been following me !" he cried curtly, when 
 Starbright came up. 
 
 "Yes," said Dick; "I've a settlement to make with 
 you." 
 
 Dade coaxed the smile to his face. 
 
 "I'm not a bone, to be followed and sniffed at by 
 a dog like you!" 
 
 Starbright angrily reddened. 
 
 "You've been following me all evening!" Dade 
 continued. 
 
 "That's a lie." 
 
 Dade clenched his fist. 
 
 "You followed me to Mrs. Throckmorton's this 
 evening. You stood on the steps, eavesdropping, try- 
 ing to hear what I might say. You're a sneaking 
 puppy!" 
 
 He was white with wrath, and found it impossible 
 to keep that famous smile on his face. 
 
 "Go on!" said Dick coldly. "The more you say, 
 the more occasion I shall find for thumping you to 
 my complete satisfaction when I begin on you. I did 
 not follow you to Mrs. Throckmorton's. I went there 
 to make a call on Miss Thornton, hearing that she is 
 to leave the city soon. I was a fool for g6ing, I'll 
 admit. When I mounted the steps " 
 
 "Crept up like a sneaking dog, you mean!" inter-
 
 ioo Settling a Score. 
 
 rupted Dade, holding himself in readiness for the blow 
 which he expected. 
 
 "When I mounted the steps I overheard you talking 
 to Miss Thornton, for you were speaking so loud that 
 I couldn't help hearing. You know what you said to 
 her. I caught only a few words, but enough to under- 
 stand the whole thing. I have seen it all along, but 
 have had no proof of it till now. You went with her 
 simply because you thought it would hurt me r nd make 
 me jealous. You thought me weak enough to throw 
 myself into the saloons and make a fool of myself 
 generally. You have seen that I did nothing of the 
 kind, and now, having faile 1 in your object, you throw 
 her over with no feeling whatever, showing you to be 
 a thoroughbred cad!" 
 
 Dade was trembling, but fear of the big freshman's 
 fist made him cautious. In spite of his bluster and 
 sharp words he had learned to respect that fist and 
 the man behind it. 
 
 "Is that all ?" he sneered. 
 
 "No. It won't be enough until I have taught you 
 to respect women. I regret that I have been com- 
 pelled to mention Miss Thornton in this matter. She 
 is a lady, and has had the misfortune to become ac- 
 quainted with a conscienceless villain and to be made 
 his tool. I shouldn't have mentioned her name, but 
 I want you to understand just what I mean." 
 
 He slipped up his sleeves. 
 
 "There is no other way to redress such things, and, 
 as Miss Thornton doesn't happen to have a brother to
 
 Settling a Score. 101 
 
 do this for her, I shall take the pleasure. Put up your 
 hands, you scoundrel, or I'll knock you down!" 
 
 There was no mistaking the tone of Dick Star- 
 bright's voice. Morgan glanced round. The place 
 was isolated and poorly lighted, and Dion Santenel had 
 disappeared. 
 
 "Defend yourself !" Dick hissed. 
 
 Dade backed away, but he put up his hands, for 
 he saw that Starbright meant to strike him. 
 
 "Why, you puppy!" he snarled. 
 
 The freshman's big fist caught him on the cheek and 
 almost lifted him from his feet. 
 
 The blow drove away every atom of fear from the 
 heart of Morgan and filled him with inconceivable 
 wrath. Gathering himself, he rushed at Starbright 
 with the ferocity of a mad dog. But again that huge 
 fist met him and knocked him backward. 
 
 "Come again!" said Starbright, as coolly as if he 
 were merely sparring in the gymnasium. "I want to 
 hammer that villainous smile off your face. Your 
 friends won't think you so handsome in the morning!" 
 
 Morgan tried to calm his raging heart. He saw 
 that if he did not he would be knocked out in short 
 order. So, instead of making another mad rush, he 
 called to his aid all his undoubted skill, and began to 
 circle slowly about Starbright, looking warily for an 
 opening. 
 
 Twice Starbright lunged at him, and twice Morgan 
 dodged out of the way. Then, with a quick leap, Mor- 
 gan sprang in and landed a resounding blow.
 
 102 Settling a Score. 
 
 Dick, finding an opening, then drove his terrible 
 right with such weight that Morgan went down on 
 the grass with stunning force. 
 
 Thud! A club in the hands of Dion Santenel fell 
 on Starbright's head, blinding and stunning him. The 
 club was lifted again and hung poised in the air. 
 
 Then there was a swish of a rope, which was pre- 
 ceded by light, springy footsteps, and the club, while 
 poised in mid-air, was plucked from the hand of San- 
 tenel. 
 
 "No, ye don't!" came in the roaring voice of Bill 
 Higgins, the cowboy. "Fair play's a jewel, and I'm 
 the jeweler that sees 't gits a proper settin', b'jing!" 
 
 Santenel knew that voice only too well. He had 
 met Higgins while posing as the Hindu juggler, and 
 knew that Higgins was the friend of Merriwell. Vi- 
 sions of a capture and unpleasant interview with 
 Frank, and other disagreeable consequences, flashed 
 through his mind. The club had been torn from his 
 hand, and he was weaponless. So, without stopping 
 to further take the part of Dade Morgan, who was 
 struggling to his feet, Santenel hurried off and disap- 
 peared behind the trees, Higgins looking after him, as 
 if he did not know whether to follow and rope him or 
 let him get away. 
 
 Dade rose to his feet, his face distorted with anger, 
 pain, and baffled hate. He dared not again face the fist 
 of Dick Starbright. 
 
 "I don't care to fight you further, when you've
 
 Settling a Score. 103 
 
 got help!" he sneered, his words trembling and his 
 whole form shaking. "But I'll settle with you yet, 
 Starbright!" 
 
 "Any time!" said Dick, pulling down his sleeves. 
 "I've more where that came from !" 
 
 Though his head was throbbing and he felt a trickle 
 of blood on his face, caused by the blow of the club, he 
 stood erect again, firmly facing Dade Morgan. 
 
 "I'll settle with you for this!" Morgan slowly re- 
 peated, as if his brain were in a whirl and his mind 
 still incoherent. Then he flung the cowboy a look of 
 hate and disdain, and walked away in the direction 
 taken by Santenel. 
 
 "Who was that there feller? The one that hit ye 
 with the club?" asked Higgins, staring in the direction 
 Dade was taking. "I 'low I was a fool to let him go." 
 
 It was a question that Dick could not answer. 
 
 "There was only one thing I clearly understood 
 about that business, and that was that you ran up 
 against a bigger man than you could handle!" said 
 Santenel, when they reached Morgan's room. 
 
 "Oh, don't say anything more about it!" 
 
 Santenel took a seat by the fire, while Dade ap- 
 plied liberal douches of hot water to his battered head. 
 
 "But I want to know about it. I stood behind one 
 of those trees while you were engaged with that big 
 two-fisted cyclone, and I had my curiosity aroused. 
 My advice to you is to keep away from him. He's
 
 104 Settling a Score. 
 
 too much for you. What did he tackle you about ? I 
 couldn't just make out!" 
 
 Dade dropped the hot towel he had been holding 
 to his face, walked to a drawer, drew out a photograph 
 and threw it into Santenel's lap. 
 
 "That!" 
 
 "Quarreling about this girl?" 
 
 "Yes, if you must know. I didn't care anything 
 for her not a thing ! and I only went with her to spite 
 him and make him jealous. I was fool enough to think 
 it might drive him to drink. Either he didn't care for 
 her as much as I supposed, or that story of his all- 
 absorbing appetite for liquor is a fairy-tale. I found 
 out that I was wasting my time, and I threw her over. 
 He heard about it, and he well, you saw what he 
 did!" 
 
 His face crimsoned; not with shame for his treat- 
 ment of Rosalind Thornton, but because he had been 
 worsted so completely by Starbright, and the memory 
 of it stung him to the quick. 
 
 "A handsome girl!" commented Santenel. "Well, 
 you failed!" 
 
 He seemed in a lenient mood, and tossed the photo- 
 graph back. He remembered that he, too, had met 
 with a bitter failure some days before, when he thought 
 he had Frank Merriwell completely under his hypnotic 
 control, only to discover, when too late and fter he 
 himself had been hypnotized by Frank, that Merriwell 
 had been playing with him all along for the purpose 
 of getting him in his power and unmasking him. The
 
 Settling a Score. 105 
 
 recollection was quite as irritating as that which so 
 stung Dade Morgan. 
 
 Dade gave the photograph a savage kick, which 
 landed it in the fire. Santenel watched it leap into 
 flame and crisp and curl to ashes. A cynical smile 
 sat on his cold lips, and the leaping flame seemed to 
 light up kindred fires in the depth of his black eyes. 
 They were peculiar eyes; and, as he sat staring into 
 the grate, the pupils appeared to contract and expand 
 somewhat like those of a cat. 
 
 "You are wondering why I am here again?" he 
 said, at length, to Dade, who had gone back to his 
 hot towels. Dade affected a show of indifference. 
 
 "I knew you would tell me after a while when you 
 got ready!" 
 
 "I'm back here because I never give up. I never 
 yet was defeated at anything which I seriously under- 
 took, and I never will be. You know my purpose?" 
 
 He spoke in a low, droning tone, seeming to direct 
 his words to the dim face of a girl which he fancied he 
 could still see in the ashes of the photograph spoke 
 in so low a monotone that, though the words were 
 clearly heard by Dade, they could not have been over- 
 heard by any one with less alert ears or beyond the 
 room. 
 
 "You have told that to me scores of times !" 
 
 "You're no more likely to forget it than I am. 
 But you thought I failed and abandoned the field. You 
 were mistaken. You don't know me yet as you ought. 
 I can still crush Merriwell and his father, and I shall
 
 io6 Settling a Score. 
 
 do it. That's what I'm here to talk about to plan 
 for." 
 
 Dade did not answer, though he stood with a hot 
 cloth to his face, staring at Santenel in a fascinated 
 way. There was so strong a bond between them, and 
 the capabilities of the greater villain were of so sub- 
 lime and audacious a character that Dade felt drawn 
 to him, as an inferior mind to a superior. 
 
 Santenel was thinking, as he looked at the face in 
 the ashes of the photograph thinking first of a face 
 somewhat like that, which he had known and loved so 
 many years ago, then of his life since those distant 
 days, and particularly of his connection with the elder 
 Merriwell, whom he had deeply wronged -Merriwell, 
 who had hounded him throughout the world, and 
 whom he was now determined to crush at once and 
 forever in the most humiliating way that his fiendish 
 inventiveness could suggest. 
 
 "You want to get even with the young fellow who 
 knocked you out a while ago?" he asked, at last arous- 
 ing himself, but speaking in that same low monotone, 
 as if addressing the picture. Dade, who had not taken 
 his eyes off the strange man, started at the sound of 
 his voice. 
 
 "Be careful, or you will be heard!" 
 
 Santenel sat more erect, shrugged his shoulders, 
 passed a hand half-dreamily over his darkened and 
 stained face. 
 
 "I've studied something of acoustics," he answered.
 
 Settling a Score. 107 
 
 "You couldn't have heard that yourself if your ears 
 hadn't been on edge." 
 
 "I hate him !" snarled Dade, speaking of Starbright. 
 "I shall never rest until I've wiped out the insult of 
 those blows to-night." 
 
 "You can't do it by going at him face to face and 
 fist to fist. He would simply knock you out again. 
 You must try another way. Only fools and pugilists 
 resort to slugging-matches to settle real or fancied 
 wrongs. A man who is a mere bulldog fighter is only 
 a bungler and blunderer. There are other ways, surer 
 ways, safer ways." 
 
 Dade had crushed the towel in his tremulous hand 
 and was still staring at Santenel, as if the reserved and 
 unseen power of this terrible man enchained him. 
 
 "There are two things !" Santenel droned on, drop- 
 ping his shoulders and sinking lower in his chair, as 
 he again seemed to talk to the fire. "I want to strike 
 Charles Conrad Merriwell, and you want to even your 
 score with Dick Starbright Both can be done at the 
 same time." 
 
 Dade leaned forward, his face working with hate 
 against Starbright 
 
 "How?" he whispered. "Only tell me how?" 
 
 "I had Charles Merriwell in my power a short time 
 ago, and his son broke my grip and got him away. I 
 must get him in my power again. I can't do it while 
 Frank Merriwell is here in New Haven, for his father 
 will not leave the place now for a number of days,
 
 io8 Settling a Score. 
 
 and it may be weeks and months. He fears me too 
 much since that. Frank must be lured out of the 
 city." 
 
 "How are you to do it?" Dade demanded. 
 
 "Get him away on a ball-game, or some kind of 
 game." 
 
 "The football season is over." 
 
 "There is a polo-team at New London." 
 
 "Merriwell might play them if they would come 
 here." 
 
 "He must play them there." 
 
 "He won't do it." 
 
 "He must be made to do it." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "That's for you to answer. Perhaps I can help 
 you. But it must be done. Starbright is on his 
 team?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "That's what I thought. They must play the New 
 London polo-team in New London. And while they 
 are over there I will work my plans to get Charles 
 Conrad Merriwell again in my power. But Frank 
 must be out of New Haven. Must be lured out, I 
 say. I can't cope with him, and I must have a clear 
 track here if I am to win. I know I can win if he 
 can be led away. I don't care how you do it, so it is 
 done. Perhaps I can help you." 
 
 He sunk his head deeper between his shoulders, and 
 his eyes blazed as brightly as the fire. 
 
 "And Starbright?" Dade anxiously and tremulously
 
 Settling a Score. 109 
 
 asked, for he was, at the moment, more interested in 
 the overthrow of Starbright than of Merriwell. 
 
 "A polo-game is a rough game, and a polo-stick 
 may be a dangerous weapon in the hands of the right 
 man. If there is not a man on the New London team 
 who will do the work for you, scheme some way to get 
 a man on that team who will. I have heard of men 
 having their arms broken in such games. I see no 
 reason why a man mightn't be killed in such a game !' f 
 
 He spoke as coldly as if his eyes were not flames of 
 fire and his heart a seething volcano. Dade flushed and 
 paled, while his breath came panting hot from between 
 his lips. 
 
 "I'll do it !" he said, gasping out the promise. "I'll 
 do it, somehow. I'll need money to work the trick, 
 maybe, and a lot of it. Money can do anything, if a 
 fellow only has enough of it." 
 
 Santenel turned on him those awful eyes. The 
 pupils had shrunk to a pin-point in size and Dade 
 shivered, for they seemed to shoot out at him points of 
 fire. 
 
 "You're a devil!" he half-gurgled to himself, but 
 the words caught the keen ears of Santenel. 
 
 "Only a villain, with the purse of Fortunatus ! How 
 much will you need ? I'll help you out of what I won 
 from Frank Merriwell in those poker-games with him, 
 when I was trying to conquer him and he conquered 
 me. There will be an added pleasure in fighting him 
 with his own money. The battle isn't lost, Dade ; the 
 fighting has only begun !"
 
 1 10 Settling a Score. 
 
 He felt in an inner pocket, and taking out a roll of 
 bills, threw it to Dade. 
 
 "That's a good deal more than I obtained from 
 Merriwell. But take it. We can't afford to count the 
 cost. Spend it like water. A thousand dollars will 
 buy half the thugs in New York. Get the right men 
 on that New London polo-team, and do what you 
 please with Starbright; just so you secure for me a 
 clear field here in New Haven. We'll have money 
 enough after we have won out!" 
 
 Dade took the roll, looked it through with paling and 
 flushing face, for he saw that Santenel had been more 
 than generous, then he tucked it away in his pocket. 
 
 "I could buy up the police force of New Haven 
 with that!" he laughed. "Don't be afraid but that 
 I'll put it where it will do the most good!"
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MORGAN SETS THE BALL ROLLING. 
 
 "Seen yer friend goin' away!" said Bill Higgins, 
 catching hold of Starbright's arm, the next morning. 
 "I reckon 't you thumped him so that he's goin' to cut 
 out. Anyway, he looked like a critter that had pulled 
 his picket-pin and was stampedin' from the range." 
 
 "Oh, you mean Morgan?" 
 
 Starbright had been walking up the street from 
 the station toward the college when overtaken by 
 the cowboy. 
 
 "Yep ! You give him sich a thumpin' last night that 
 I reckon he's lit out. 'Feared you'd tell of it, and he 
 hain't the sand to face the laugh that the fellers will 
 give him." 
 
 Starbright also had been at the railway-station, 
 though he had not been observed by Higgins. 
 
 "Didn't know but there mought be an elopement, 
 first off!" grinned Higgins. "Durn purty young 
 woman come trippin' 'long at the same time he did, 
 goin' to take the same train, and he waltzed toward 
 her and offered her his wing, er ruther I thought 't 
 he was goin' to offer it to her. But dinged if she 
 seen him at all! Mighty queer, too, for he was big 
 enough. But she didn't see him didn't notice him, 
 when he tuck off his cap and scraped his foot across
 
 H2 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 
 
 the floor like a nigger fiddler at a dance, ner nuthin', 
 but jist sashayed right by him 'thout lookin' at him, 
 and hopped onto the car steps all by her lonesome! 
 Say, ye don't reckon she done that there fer a blind, 
 and that they was really goin' away together, do ye?" 
 
 Starbright had observed the same performance 
 had seen Rosalind Thornton come down to the station 
 and cut Bade Morgan dead when he came forward to 
 assist her to the platform of the car. 
 
 "No elopement!" said Dick. "I guess she wanted 
 to cut his acquaintance." 
 
 "Well, the manners of this hyer effete East goes 
 ahead of me," said Higgins. "Out on the ranches 
 when ye want to cut an acquaintance ye do it with a 
 knife. But I reckon I'll ketch on bimeby. Had a 
 notion hoppin' on that there train myself, only it 
 was goin' the wrong way. I'd 'a' gone if't hadn't been 
 fer Merriwell. Say ! I tie to that feller ! I never seen 
 another like him. Hyer I come fer a day er two, and 
 I've been hyer I don't know how long, a-stayin' jist 
 on account of him. If them Yale perfessors would let 
 a feller read their books with a lasso and write with 
 a picket-pin, I'd enter the blamed old college myself, 
 jist to stay with Merriwell. Never seen no sich man 
 on this hyer earth. Treats every feller like a king! 
 And 't don't make no difference to him whether a 
 man stepped out of a bandbox er come straight off the 
 ranges. All he asks is that a man shall be a man !" 
 
 Dick Starbright was quite as willing, ordinarily, to
 
 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 1 1 3 
 
 sing the praises of Frank Merriwell as any one, but 
 just then his thoughts were too much engrossed with 
 the departure of Bade Morgan and Rosalind Thorn- 
 ton from the city. He did not know that Dade was 
 on his way to New London, with scheming brain filled 
 with plans for the carrying out of the wishes of Dion 
 Santenel, but he knew that Rosalind was on her way 
 home after her prolonged visit in New Haven. 
 
 He made rather a poor companion for Bill Higgins, 
 as he and the cowboy walked together up the street, 
 almost forgetting Higgins' chatter while thinking of 
 all that had occurred since Rosalind came to New Ha- 
 ven on a visit to her aunt. He and Rosalind were 
 confessed sweethearts then; now she had gone away, 
 and he had not even said good-by to her. 
 
 It had been his intention to at least say "good-by" 
 as she took the train, if a favorable opportunity came, 
 but Morgan had loomed into the foreground at the 
 wrong time, and the words had not been spoken. He 
 had not even gone forward, and he did not believe that 
 Rosalind had observed him as he stood in the crowd 
 at the station. 
 
 "It's just as well, no doubt!" he thought, with a lit- 
 tle ache in his big, generous, manly young heart. 
 
 Yes, it was just as well. Rosalind had shown that 
 she had a jealous, narrow, spiteful disposition, which 
 was certain to bring trouble to any young man who 
 really cared for her. But Starbright knew that she 
 was, in spite of all this, a lovable girl in many other 
 respects ; and, though the dream he had cherished con-
 
 H4 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 
 
 earning himself and her was shattered and gone, and 
 he felt that it was better so, he could not quite cure 
 that ache in his heart yet. 
 
 Starbright and Higgins separated on reaching 
 Chapel Street. They met again in the gymnasium late 
 in the afternoon, where Merriwell and some others 
 were skimming round on roller-skates engaged in 
 roller polo practise. 
 
 "Oh, he won't accept the challenge!" Bertrand De- 
 farge was sneering. "He never jumps at anything 
 that isn't dead sure." 
 
 "Who ye talkin' 'bout ?" Higgins asked, for he saw 
 that Defarge was looking toward Merriwell. 
 
 "Merriwell!" the French youth answered, not 
 abashed by the presence of the cowboy, who was 
 known to be a "Merriwell maniac." Higgins' hand 
 went into his pocket and drew out a bulky wallet, 
 from which he produced a roll of bills. 
 
 "Bet ye any amount you're minded to name that he 
 will!" 
 
 "Will what?" asked Starbright, stepping forward; 
 whereat the Chickering set, who had been grouped 
 round Defarge, drew back as if they feared his bulk 
 or the weight of his fist. 
 
 "Durn if I know!" Higgins admitted. "But he 
 seems to think that Merriwell's afraid, and I'm backin' 
 the general proposition that Merriwell ain't afeared 
 of anything! So there's yer money. Put up er shut 
 up!"
 
 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 115 
 
 "I don't care to bet with a man who doesn't know 
 what he's talking about!" sneered Defarge. 
 
 "I know Merriwell ! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout 
 and what my money's talkin' 'bout! Put up er shut 
 up!" 
 
 "Oh, come away!" begged Chickering, the -professed 
 peacemaker, tugging at Defarge's sleeve. "We don't 
 care to bet about this thing, you know." 
 
 "Put up er shut up!" bellowed Higgins; but De- 
 farge and the Chickering set moved away. 
 
 "He shut up!" Higgins observed, grimly tuck- 
 ing the money back. "That's what I intended. I 
 dunno a durn thing what he was talkin' 'bout, but I 
 don't 'low nobody to slander Merry." 
 
 They soon discovered what Defarge had been talking 
 about. A challenge by wire had been received by 
 Merriwell's polo-team from the polo-team at New 
 London, asking Frank to set a date for a game, but 
 insisting that the game should be played in New Lon- 
 don. This was of interest to Starbright, for he was 
 a member of tHe polo-team which Frank had organ- 
 ized and was training. 
 
 Defarge came back after a while, and this time he 
 had a roll of bills which he had obtained from Dade 
 Morgan. Roland Packard and Don Pike also ap- 
 peared on the scene with goodly sums of money, which 
 they were willing to wager that Merriwell's team 
 would not dare to accept the challenge of the New 
 London men.
 
 n6 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 
 
 "Why do you want to bet against Yale?" Rupert 
 Chickering hypocritically protested, when Gene Skel- 
 ding also appeared, clothed with funds and renewed 
 confidence. "Loyalty to Old Eli, you know!" 
 
 "Rot!" said Skelding. "It isn't a question of Yale 
 and Old Eli. Merriwell has organized a team of his 
 individual friends. They represent nothing but Mer- 
 riwell's swelled head. They are trying to make them- 
 selves and every one else believe that they can wipe 
 up the earth with everything in the polo line. We 
 intend to prick the bubble. We're going to show that 
 they won't dare to meet any team that can play." 
 
 "You're sure of the New London team?" 
 
 "Yes; but it isn't the regular New London team. 
 It's a private team, just as Merriwell's is ; but it holds 
 some crack players. They are willing to meet Merri- 
 well. If he was at the head of a regular Yale team he 
 could refuse by saying that he would only meet college 
 teams. But as it is, he won't have a leg to stand on if 
 he refuses. We're going to make him play or take 
 water." / 
 
 That night Hodge met Merriwell in a troubled 
 mood. He was a member of Frank's team, and the 
 bets that were being freely offered more than irritated 
 him, and he did not hesitate to say so. 
 
 "You'll have to meet them, Merry, just to take the 
 wind out of these gas balloons!" he argued. "They 
 say that you won't accept the challenge, and that if 
 you should you would insist on playing the match 
 here. Those New London fellows demanded that we
 
 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 117 
 
 should go over there because they say they wouldn't 
 have a fair show in a New Haven rink." 
 
 "I don't know that I shall pay any attention to the 
 challenge. Whoever heard of those fellows before, 
 anyway?" 
 
 Dick Starbright talked the matter over with Bert 
 Dashleigh that night in the seclusion of their room. 
 Dashleigh sat in an easy chair, toying with his mando- 
 lin, which he now and then thumped when the con- 
 versation lagged. There was a rap on the door, and 
 when it was opened -Ready came in. 
 
 "Going into the thing?" he queried, squatting on 
 the arm of a chair. 
 
 Dashleigh had risen, and now put down his man- 
 dolin. Though Ready had hazed and annoyed him in 
 common with other freshmen, he had great respect for 
 him. 
 
 "Camp down!" Ready requested, then repeated his 
 question. 
 
 "Into what thing?" Dick asked, wondering if Ready 
 was setting another sophomore trap for him and his 
 friend. 
 
 "Oh! Then the news hasn't floated hitherward? 
 I'm to be congratulated. Thanks! I think I'll shake 
 hands with myself." 
 
 Which he did, very solemnly. 
 
 "Chance for a fortune!" he said, winking owlishly. 
 "Merriwell's polo-team, of which you and I are the 
 most important members" bowing toward Starbright 
 "has been challenged by a little upstart-team from
 
 n8 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 
 
 hinky-dinky New London. Now, I'd like to go to 
 New London. Acquainted with a young lady over 
 there, you know. I should like to wear my beautiful 
 polo-suit and show her that I am a Pole. Merriwell 
 won't go. At least, he says he won't. Now, we're 
 getting up a sort of combination jack-pot. Every 
 Merriwell enemy is walking around the streets of this 
 great and glorious city with his pockets turned inside 
 out and his hands bulging with great rolls of green- 
 backs, saying that Merriwell won't go. So we're col- 
 lecting a fund for the needy, which is going to say 
 that Merriwell will go, and that his team will knock 
 the tar out of the boasters at New London. I was 
 sure you'd want to get into the game; hence trotted 
 my feet hitherward. Subscriptions to this fund un- 
 limited; repayment guaranteed with one hundred per 
 cent, interest immediately after the New London 
 match." 
 
 Then, seeing that Starbright hesitated, he continued, 
 as if the information was all that was needed: 
 
 "Bill Higgins heads the subscription-list with fifty 
 dollars, which he says he already owes for board, but 
 which he is willing to stack up on Merriwell. Bart 
 Hodge goes Higgins ten better. Browning has roused 
 himself long enough and sufficiently to stop smoking 
 and draw a check for a pretty little sum. Yours truly, 
 the undersigned, is into it so deep that I'll have to 
 shave myself for the next five years or grow Pfeffer 
 whiskers if we lose. And there are likewise others 
 and some more. So, I thought "
 
 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling, 119 
 
 He took out a square of legal cap, on which the 
 signatures of various students appeared, with figures 
 set opposite their names. This he tossed to Starbright. 
 
 Dashleigh was going down into his pockets. 
 
 "Oh, I'm always strapped!" he grunted. "I'm 
 spending my allowance faster than it comes to me. 
 But if Starbright will lend me twenty-five, I'll wager 
 it." 
 
 Starbright passed him the paper. 
 
 "Why, you're bound to lose!" 
 
 Ready winked another owlish wink of wisdom. 
 
 "Milord, why sayest thou so?" 
 
 "Because, as you say yourself, Merriwell has de- 
 clared that he won't accept the challenge." 
 
 Ready rose, reseated himself, wiggled the ringers of 
 his right hand from the armhole of his vest, and 
 winked again. 
 
 "What makes you so confident?" Dick demanded, 
 while Bert was looking over the list. 
 
 "I have been commanded to tell it not in Gath, to 
 publish it not in the streets of Askelon, yclept New 
 Haven; but in these rooms " 
 
 He arose, walked solemnly about as if peering for 
 a possible eavesdropper, peeped under the lounge and 
 under some chairs, and came back. 
 
 "Put all you can beg, borrow, or steal on this prop- 
 osition. It's a dead sure thing. The bet isn't that our 
 team will win the game, but that our team will play. 
 We're going to clean out the boasters that have been 
 tantalizingly shoving their money under our noses
 
 I2O Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 
 
 clean them out so slick that they won't have enough tc 
 take them home for the Christmas holidays. Why do 
 I know?" 
 
 He looked around again, lowered his voice and 
 funneled his hands. 
 
 "I know, because Charles Conrad Merriwell has 
 himself bet a little roll with a New London man that 
 Frank will accept the challenge and will beat the 
 New London challengers!" 
 
 Both Starbright and Dashleigu stared. The thing 
 was unbelievable. 
 
 "Are you sure?" Dick asked. 
 
 "Sure ! The fellow came to the New Haven House 
 to-night, made the offer in the presence of a dozen men, 
 shook the cold cash under Charles Merriwell's nose, 
 and Merriwell, like the true sporting man and gentle- 
 man that he is, promptly covered the money." 
 
 "Oh, say! let me have a hundred, somebody!" Dash- 
 leigh begged. 
 
 "The New London man was a fool to offer such a 
 wager !" 
 
 "I think so myself; and a 'fool and his money' are 
 likely to be soon parted. But the idea is out, some- 
 how, that Frank is afraid to accept the challenge and 
 will not accept it under any consideration. They say 
 he values his reputation as a successful leader of ath- 
 letic-teams more than he does his father's money ; that 
 five thousand dollars is nothing to Charles Merriwell, 
 and a defeat of his polo-team, made up as it is of his 
 close friends, would be everything to Frank. So, the
 
 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 121 
 
 fools are silly enough to think Frank won't play, and 
 that they've got a cinch." 
 
 "You're sure, then, that Frank will accept?" 
 
 "Why, of course he'll accept t If I didn't know him 
 so well I'd think he was holding off this way on pur- 
 pose to get big bets out of the proposition. He will 
 accept the challenge to please his father. Nothing 
 else would make him do it, probably; but that will." 
 
 "Say! somebody lend me two hundred dollars!" 
 Dashleigh begged. "If I thought my folks would do 
 it, I'd telegraph them to forward me two or three 
 months' allowance in advance. But they wouldn't. 
 You're going to put up money on the game, too ?" 
 
 "Sure!" 
 
 Jack Ready did not go away from the rooms of the 
 chums empty-handed; and not long after, when all 
 arrangements had been made and other sources laid 
 under contribution, Bertrand Defarge, Don Pike, Ro- 
 land Packard, Gene Skelding, the members of the 
 Chickering set, and many others who had been flash- 
 ing their "rolls" under the nose of every friend of 
 Frank Merriwell, found their offered bets covered, 
 and were bantered to lay wagers on the game. 
 
 It was a night of excitemer. , for in all the places of 
 resort for students, and in many other places as well, 
 the challenge of the New London men and the probable 
 action of Frank Merriwell, together with the bets that 
 were being offered and made, were almost the sole 
 topics of conversation. 
 
 Dade Morgan went to his rooms smiling and elated.
 
 122 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 
 
 He had worked out the plan given to him by Dion 
 Santenel. 
 
 To his surprise he found Santenel sitting before 
 the grate, awaiting his coming. 
 
 These mysterious appearances and disappearances 
 of the man he obeyed, loved, and feared were often 
 quite puzzling to Morgan. Time and again he had 
 walked into his rooms, after carefully unlocking the 
 door, and found sitting there the strange man of mys- 
 tery; and often, after leaving the man there, he re- 
 turned in a very few moments to find Santenel gone 
 for an absence of a week or more. Santenel's abi- 
 ding-place seemed to be as changing and unsubstantial 
 as that of the Wandering Jew ; and where he stayed 
 while in New Haven Dade had never yet been able to 
 learn. 
 
 "Waiting for your report," said Santenel. "I heard 
 a few things myself, but I thought it unwise to ap- 
 pear too publicly." 
 
 "Everything has gone on swimmingly !" was Dade's 
 jubilant preface. "Things worked right from the 
 start. I found two men at New London who played 
 right into my hands. One of them I knew before, and 
 that made the thing easy for me. He had done dirty 
 work for me before, and he's all right. They had 
 been talking of organizing a polo-team out of some 
 fellows who had been rejected or expelled from the 
 other team, and they organized it on the spot, and 
 wired their challenge." 
 
 Then he gleefully told of the bets that had been
 
 Morgan Sets the Ball Rolling. 12* 
 
 made, dwelling especially on the bet which Charles 
 Conrad Merriwell had made with one of Dade's tools 
 from New London. 
 
 "The challenge will be accepted, and the game will 
 be played," was Santenel's satisfied comment. "I'll 
 see that Charles Conrad Meriwell stays in New Haven 
 that day and meets me. You must have the game early 
 in the afternoon Saturday afternoon. Not a night 
 game f I want plenty of time to do my work. Have 
 the New London men stand to that." 
 
 He rubbed his fingers joyously, and, sinking into 
 the chair, stared into the grate with his burning eyes. 
 
 "Merriwell will accept the challenge!" he declared, 
 as he rose to go. 
 
 He was a true prophet. Frank accepted the New 
 London challenge the next morning.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE POLO KING. 
 
 Saturday morning the Yale forces trooped to New 
 London. The number of persons who went that morn- 
 ing, or said they were going later in the day, was 
 really surprising. That such a mob should be drawn 
 to New London to see a polo-game between Merri- 
 well's team and an unknown team of New London 
 was, on the surface, unaccountable; yet Merriwell's 
 friends accounted for it by the fact that Merriwell 
 and the men who composed his five were wonderfully 
 popular, and that a tremendous interest had been 
 aroused by the sky-rockety character of the betting. 
 
 But there was something below the surface that they 
 did not see ; the crafty hand and brain of Dade Mor- 
 gan, and the mysterious man who was standing be- 
 hind him urging him on. Santenel wanted the mob 
 bound for New London to swallow up every Yale man 
 who was likely to interfere with his plans concern- 
 ing Charles Conrad Merriwell. Hence Morgan sent 
 all of his friends and adherents, and all the enemies 
 of Merriwell he could muster, knowing that this would 
 cause a counter rally of the friends of Merriwell and 
 take them to New London, also. 
 
 But the elder Merriwell himself was not going. 
 He could not go, he told Frank, because he had re-
 
 The Polo King. 125 
 
 ceived a telegram from a broker who was handling 
 Western mining stock for him, and who was coming 
 on from New York that day for a business interview. 
 
 The importance of the occasion seemed to demand 
 music, and Dashleigh's mandolin club invaded the 
 New London train, loaded down with cases containing 
 mandolins, guitars, and various other musical instru- 
 ments. The crowd was very jolly and very musical, 
 and bellowed such classics as "Good-by, Lady!" and 
 "Good-by, My Lover, Good-by!" until many of the 
 passengers who were not interested in such things, and 
 particularly some Boston drummers on their way to 
 Providence, who were investigating the mysteries of 
 a jack-pot at the other end of the car, wished that 
 mandolins had never been invented, or that musically 
 inclined students had all been born dumb. 
 
 Dashleigh and his fellow musicians were supremely 
 satisfied with themselves, however, and with the world 
 in general, proving it by bubbling over with exuber- 
 ant spirits. Dashleigh and Starbright had taken the 
 first train, in order that they might get ahead of the 
 crowd and secure good hotel accommodations. When 
 New London was reached, and, finding there a great 
 crowd assembled, Starbright put his bulky weight in 
 the advance, with Dashleigh and the mandolin club 
 trailing after him, and plowed a wide furrow through 
 the crowd and escaped to a hotel in time to get the 
 desired rooms and accommodations. 
 
 "There's only one thing that can save my mandolin," 
 said Bert, when he and Dick were ensconced in com-
 
 126 The Polo King. 
 
 fort and security. "You'll have to lend me another 
 tenner. And, then, it may not save it." 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "Well, I haven't money enough to liquidate for 
 this gorgeousness." 
 
 Starbright frowned. 
 
 "Been betting some more?** 
 
 "Well, you see, I couldn't help it And I've about 
 bet the mandolin." 
 
 "How was that?" 
 
 "Well, you see, Rol Packard shook a fiver under 
 my nose, and I told him I hadn't any more money, 
 but would put my mandolin against it. 
 
 Starbright sighed. 
 
 "Dashleigh, you'll bet the coat off your back next !" 
 
 "There are others! And I'll be all right as soon 
 as I get the money I've already won." 
 
 Indeed, there were "others" of Merriwell's friends 
 who were as wild in their betting as Bert Dashleigh. 
 
 The game was to be called at half-past two o'clock. 
 Before that hour the polo-rink was crowded with men 
 and boys, Yale students and pretty girls, who were in- 
 terestedly watching a preliminary match-game be- 
 tween two New London teams of amateurs. 
 
 Dashleigh's mandolin club was there, in seats at 
 one end of the big rectangular "surface," thumping 
 away in the intervals of play. 
 
 The blue colors of Yale were everywhere conspicu- 
 ous, as if to refute the assertions of Merriwell's 
 enemies that Frank's team was not an accredited Yale
 
 The Polo King. 127 
 
 institution. More blue would not have been displayed 
 if a regular Yale college five was about to meet a 
 five from another great university. The crowd grew 
 denser and denser, as the watches showed the ap- 
 proach of the hour. 
 
 By and by the amateurs concluded their playing, 
 and the New London team, which was a New London 
 team in name only, came upon the "surface" for a 
 warming-up before meeting Merriwell's men. 
 
 While they were engaged in this, Frank and his 
 five entered the room, their entrance immediately at- 
 tracting attention. They came in, clothed in their 
 roller-polo costume, with roller-skates on their feet. 
 
 Then more than half the crowd seemed to rise up; 
 and, led by Bill Higgins, who swung his big sombrero 
 and yelled like an Indian at a horse-race, they gave 
 Merriwell and his men a rousing cheer. Dade Morgan 
 whitened with rage. 
 
 "Hear the fools!" he inwardly snarled. "When 
 will they ever get done worshiping Merriwell?" 
 
 The difference between the two teams was marked. 
 Two of the opposing team looked like New York 
 toughs, which they were, and the captain was a trucu- 
 lent-looking fellow, with eyes set close together. 
 
 When the New London team gave way for Merri- 
 well's, and Frank led his men on the floor for practise, 
 the difference between the teams was so noticeable 
 that Higgins again started a cheer which seemed to 
 rock the building. 
 
 "I thould like to get that fellowth wope awound
 
 128 The Polo King. 
 
 hith neck and choke him!" Lew Veazie disgustedly 
 lisped to his chums of the Chickering set, as he lis- 
 tened to the cowboy's bellcwing. "It maketh me thick !" 
 
 "You'll be sicker before the game is over!" said 
 Beckwith, the big guard of the Yale football-team, 
 who chanced to overhear him. "It makes me ashamed 
 to know that you fellows are Yale men." 
 
 "But Merri well's isn't a Yale team !" snarled Skel- 
 ding. 
 
 "Oh, it isn't? Well, the best men in Yale think so. 
 Listen to that yelling, if you don't believe it! Look 
 at those blue ribbons, if you don't believe it! Merri- 
 well is the king of Yale, and you know it, you miser- 
 able puppies !" 
 
 "If he wathn't tho bigf I'd thump him!" Veazie 
 gasped, when Beckwith had pushed on. "Why, the 
 audathious villain!" 
 
 Merriwell's team finished its practise. Silence 
 reigned; even Dashleigh's mandolin club ceasing its 
 efforts when the hour arrived for the match-game on 
 which so much was staked. 
 
 The referee came upon the floor, or "surface," with 
 the ball, and the teams grouped in front of the goal- 
 cages. This was the line-up of the teams : 
 
 YALE. POSITION. NEW LONDON. 
 
 Merriwell Rush Crowder. 
 
 Starbright Rush Gates. 
 
 Ready Center Mehan. 
 
 Hodge Half-back Weathers. 
 
 Browning Goal Bascom. 
 
 The referee placed the rubber-covered polo-ball on
 
 The Polo King. 129 
 
 the spot in the middle of the floor. The members of 
 the teams, who had been standing in front of their re- 
 spective goal-cages, straightened up and leaned strain- 
 ingly forward, ready to dash for the ball when the 
 whistle sounded. 
 
 The referee stepped to one side of the surface when 
 he had placed the ball, and put his whistle to his lips. 
 Crowder, who was captain and rush he of the nar- 
 row eyes and truculent face was in motion before 
 the sharp blast cut the air, but the referee did not send 
 him back, and the whistle blew almost immediately. 
 Then Frank went down the floor like a shot, and 
 from under Crowder's outstretched stick uncovered 
 the spot and sent the ball bang against the planking 
 at the back of the New London cage. 
 
 Bill Higgins opened up again with the roar of a 
 buffalo, and the Yale men yelled. 
 
 Weathers, the New London half-back, got the ball 
 and sent it flying toward the middle of the surface, 
 where Ready blocked its passage with his feet and shot 
 it again toward the New London goal. Bascom was 
 in front of it, however, and kicked it away with a 
 savage snarl, as if he were kicking at an enemy's head. 
 He was big and fat, with an enormous face and an 
 unwholesome form. 
 
 Then Weathers struck the ball; but it was stopped 
 by Hodge, and there was a furious mix-up near the 
 center of the floor, from out of the midst of which the 
 ball was shot by Starbright. 
 
 Mehan now took a hand and skipped the ball toward
 
 130 The Polo King. 
 
 the Yale end; and Gates, getting in ahead of Star- 
 bright and Merriwell, shot it for the Yale goal. 
 
 Big Bruce Browning was there, however, with legs 
 and stick ready for duty, and he blocked the play, dri- 
 ving the ball to one side. 
 
 Gates, who was a fast skater, got behind it with 
 his stick and again sent it toward Bruce. It missed 
 the goal, however, going behind it ; and a struggle for 
 its possession ensued between Crowder and Starbright, 
 Crowder roughly trying to shoulder Dick out of the 
 way; but in the attempt he was hurled against the 
 planking, and the ball, dragged by Starbright's stick 
 away from the wall and from behind the goal, was 
 caromed by him to Ready, who ran with it down the 
 floor and shot it toward the New London end of the 
 surface. 
 
 Here another fight ensued for its possession, the 
 ball being batted and banged about, stopped by clubs 
 and feet and sticks, until it was flirted out of the me- 
 lee by Bart Hodge and again flew toward the New- 
 London goal. 
 
 Bascom was in place. He kicked it out of the way, 
 and, lunging for another kick, uncovered the ball, and 
 Merriwell shot the ball into the cage. 
 
 The first goal of the phy had been made. 
 
 The teams now changed goals ; and, while this was 
 being done and they were getting in readiness for 
 the next play, Dashleigh's mandolin club began to 
 "discourse sweet music," which was drowned, how- 
 ever, by the yells of the Yale men, led by Bill Higgins.
 
 The Polo King. 131 
 
 The yelling and the music ceased as the referee ad- 
 vanced again toward the middle of the floor with the 
 ball. The contesting teams crouched in readiness 
 while he put the ball on the spot Then, before walk- 
 ing aside, the referee made his announcement : 
 
 "First goal, Yale; made by Merriwell. Time, two 
 minutes and twenty seconds." 
 
 He put the whistle to his lips, having walked aside 
 while concluding the announcement, and Crowder 
 started. The referee waved him back; then sounded 
 his whistle, and the rushers darted out. 
 
 Again Merriwell got the ball and sent it flying 
 down the floor. It was stopped by Mehan, the New 
 London center ; but Ready took it away from him and 
 sent it again toward the New London goal, where it 
 was stopped by the fat goal-end, who knocked it 
 back with his stick. Then Hodge succeeded in get- 
 ting the ball and started down the floor with it, driving 
 past Mehan and Weathers. But Gates, who had 
 skated round in a half-circle, stopped the ball with his 
 stick before it reached the goal-end. 
 
 Bang! Weathers drove it straight and hard to the 
 Yale end of the floor and against the planking, 
 Starbright and Merriwell drove it from the vicinity of 
 the Yale goal, Merriwell running it down to Star- 
 bright and the latter passing it around Crowder by a 
 handsome carom against the wall and on to Hodge, 
 who again tried to drive a goal. 
 
 But in doing so he slipped and came down with a 
 thump on the floor. One of his skates had broken.
 
 132 The Polo King. 
 
 The referee's whistle blew and time was given for 
 Bart to put on other skates. 
 
 Dade Morgan, who had secured a good seat in one 
 of the side galleries, which enabled him to look down 
 on the surface and observe every movement of the 
 players, found it difficult to keep the smile on his face. 
 He fiercely wanted the New London men to win not 
 because of the bets which had been made, but be- 
 cause he fancied the loss of the game would humiliate 
 Merriwell and Starbright. 
 
 He was watching Mehan and Bascom, who, with 
 others, were walking about the floor near their goal 
 with their skates skewed to the sides of their feet, in 
 this interval of play. Bascom and Mehan were the 
 men from New York who had been hired by him to 
 knock out Dick Starbright, by breaking his arm, or 
 otherwise seriously injuring him before the end of the 
 game. 
 
 Dade was thinking, too, as he looked at them, of 
 what he fancied was transpiring in New Haven at 
 that time, and rejoicing in the probably successful 
 result of the efforts of Dion Santenel to snare Charles 
 Conrad Merriwell. 
 
 "I'm afraid that Merriwell's men are the better 
 players," he was forced to confess to himself. "But 
 only one goal has been made, and there are plenty of 
 chances. Anyway, if one of those fellows knocks out 
 Starbright satisfactorily I shall be satisfied, whichever 
 way the game goes."
 
 The Polo King. 133 
 
 Again the game was on, the skaters flying here and 
 there, after the elusive sphere, swooping down on it 
 from all quarters, as it skipped back and forth under 
 the constant strokes of the sticks. 
 
 It was clearly to be seen that Merriwell's men were 
 the more scientific players. They did not hammer at 
 the ball constantly, as if trying to smash it into dust, as 
 the New Londoners did, but made team plays, gliding 
 the ball from man to man around opposition players, 
 caroming it against the walls and skilfully shooting it 
 for goal. 
 
 The playing of the New London men was of the 
 slugger type, as befitted their appearance. Bascom, 
 their goal-tend, was savage and fierce as a chained 
 wolf, hopping about in front of the cage, kicking at 
 the ball, striking at it, and frantically warding it off 
 when it was shot at the cage. Now and then he lifted 
 his club and glared at the Yale men as they swooped 
 on him, as if he desired to hammer their heads. More 
 than once Mehan caught a Yale player round the shoul- 
 ders and pushed him about, yet the referee did not an- 
 nounce a foul. 
 
 Mehan tried this once too often, jamming with ter- 
 rific force into Dick Starbright, who was skating in 
 the opposite direction. The result was disastrous to 
 the New London man, who was hurled from his feet 
 by the force of the impact, being literally lifted by 
 Starbright's greater weight and strength. He fell 
 with a crash, striking his head on the floor, and lay for 
 a moment stunned.
 
 134 The Polo King. 
 
 The referee blew his whistle; and, as if to cover up 
 the confusion, Dashleigh's band began to play. 
 
 "I'll git even with ye for that!" Mehan growled 
 viciously, as he crawled to his feet. 
 
 Then it was found that in the fall he had broken 
 his skate, and a wait was occasioned. 
 
 "Look out for that fellow, Dick!" Frank warned. 
 "He has been acting ugly toward you ever since the 
 game began. Once, when he struck at the ball in the 
 air, as if his stick were a baseball bat, and missed it, 
 I thought he really struck at you. I believe now he 
 did!" 
 
 "Oh, I saw the rascal!" Dick smiled. "I've been 
 watching him ever since. But I don't fancy he will 
 care to run into me again, as he did just then." 
 
 The fierceness of the New London men seemed to 
 increase when the play began again, and within two 
 minutes they had caged the ball, catching Browning 
 off his guard and shooting the sphere between his legs. 
 
 Then how the friends of Dade Morgan cheered, in 
 spite of the fact that the goal had been won from 
 Yale! 
 
 "They're fools!" Morgan snarled to himself. "I 
 warned them against making such a show of them- 
 selves; but lots of fellows haven't any more tact than 
 to exhibit themselves in that way." 
 
 Yet he was so pleased that the smile came to his 
 face without any effort on his part. 
 
 Dashleigh's band was again twanging away, but 
 its strains could not soothe the heart of Morgan, who.
 
 The Polo King. 135 
 
 in that moment of temporary victory, felt that he hated 
 Merriwell and Starbright more than he had ever hated 
 them. 
 
 When the playing recommenced it was fast and 
 furious, and within less than a minute Starbright made 
 a goal. Then Crowder drove a goal for New Lon- 
 don, the score was again tied, and the referee's whistle 
 blew, announcing the end of the first period of the 
 match. 
 
 When the referee's whistle blew again and the game 
 recommenced, Merriwell reached the ball first and sent 
 it flying for goal. Bascom stopped it with his padded 
 shins, kicked it away, and a fight for its possession 
 took place near the middle of the floor. 
 
 Then Starbright secured it and drove it again to- 
 ward the New London goal; but Weathers, the half- 
 back, blocked it with his feet, and it shot to one side 
 of the hall, with four or five men diving after it. 
 Ready was there, and drove it into the New London 
 goal, but it bounded out ; and another struggle for its 
 possession ensued, right in front of the cage, yet far 
 enough away to prevent the calling of a foul. Hodge 
 now got the ball and shot it into the cage, and it stayed 
 there. 
 
 There was a transference of goals, and the game 
 was renewed. Again Merriwell drove the ball for the 
 cage; but Bascom, the goal-tend, stopped it with his 
 foot. Weathers skipped it back to the middle of the 
 floor, where there was a struggle for it, and such hot
 
 136 The Polo King. 
 
 work that the spectators were brought up standing 
 with a yell. 
 
 The New London men secured the ball and fought 
 their way toward the Yale end. But Browning was 
 there, and, though they made a desperate effort to 
 put the ball in the cage, he prevented it 
 
 Starbright drew the ball out of the mix-up, but lost 
 it; and, to keep it from being caged, Ready shot it 
 behind the goal. It caromed against the wall, flying 
 to Merri well's side, and before Crowder could get to 
 him, Merriwell shot it for a goal. 
 
 It went across the room like a streak of light. Bas- 
 com jumped to prevent it from going into the cage, 
 but missed it ; and another goal was added to the score 
 of Merriwell's side. 
 
 Again goals were changed, but before another score 
 was made by either team the referee's whistle blew, an- 
 nouncing the end of the second period of the game. 
 The work had been so hot and fierce that neither spec- 
 tators nor players had realized the quick passage of 
 time, and the sound of the whistle came as a surprise. 
 
 Bascom, the fat goal-tend of the New London team, 
 who had worked with such savage energy, was drip- 
 ping with perspiration, and all of the men were 
 more or less blown. 
 
 Whizz plunk ! The game was on again, and Mer- 
 riwell had again driven the ball into the New London 
 cage. Morgan's face looked black. He had forgot- 
 ten to smile. He saw that Merriwell's men were play- 
 ing now, and that the New London sluggers, though
 
 The Polo King. 137 
 
 they were fierce fighters, were really no match for the 
 Yale five. 
 
 The goals were changed, and the battle raged anew. 
 Crowder was furious. At the sound of the whistle 
 he tried to take the ball off the spot ahead of Merriwell, 
 a thing he had not yet been able to do. But Frank 
 took the ball, as before, and shot it past him, bang 
 against the netting of the cage. It bounded out, was 
 caught up by Weathers' stick, and danced to the middle 
 of the floor. Then Mehan sent it along, and there was 
 another tussle near the Yale goal. 
 
 In the struggle that ensued, Mehan struck savagely 
 at Dick Starbright's head. Dick saw the blow com- 
 ing and dodged, and the stick, swinging over and 
 banging against the floor, was broken short off. 
 
 The ball had been in the air at the time, and Mehan, 
 profusely apologizing, declared that the blow had not 
 been aimed at Dick, but at the ball ; and, after another 
 stick had been given to him, the game was renewed. 
 
 "See here!" Dick hissed, when he was skating by the 
 fellow, "if that happens again, I'll know it's no acci- 
 dent, and I'll thump you as soon as the game is over. 
 See?" 
 
 Mehan whitened, but made no answer. 
 
 The New London men, appearing now to realize 
 that if they were not to be defeated badly they must 
 make a fierce fight, began another effort to cage the 
 ball on the Yale side. But Merriwell's men pushed the 
 ball away from the neighborhood of their goal out 
 into the center of the floor. It came back, however,
 
 I3 The Polo King. 
 
 and Bruce time and again stopped it, in a way to win 
 admiration from the spectators. 
 
 "They can't get it past him !" Bill Higgins bellowed, 
 hopping up and down in his excitement and waving his 
 big sombrero, while his great spurs tinkled and jingled. 
 
 Two more skates were broken, and stops were made. 
 Then Bruce, trying to stop a ball, pitched forward 
 headlong on the floor, and Crowder, who was striking 
 at the ball, deflected his stick and struck Bruce heavily 
 over the head. 
 
 "It was an accident," was the verdict of the referee 
 
 Bruce's head was bandaged, and, though he felt so 
 dizzy from the effect of the blow that he could hardly 
 stand, he remained at his post. 
 
 Then Ready drove another goal, and Bill Higgins 
 whooped. 
 
 "Them New London fellers'll never git another !" he 
 yelled. 
 
 But they did. The New London men rallied, and 
 in less than two minutes made two goals, setting their 
 sympathizers wild with excitement. 
 
 "I ought to have prevented that," Bruce apologized. 
 "If I do that again, Merry, take me off the team." 
 
 But Frank knew that New London would not have 
 made those goals if Bruce had been in his usual condi- 
 tion, and he kindly told the big fellow so. The pain 
 seemed somehow to go out of Bruce's head after that, 
 so that, when the next time the ball came skipping 
 toward him, he blocked it promptly with his padded
 
 The Polo King. 139 
 
 shins, and sent it flying back to the other end of the 
 room with his stick. Again the battle was forced out 
 into the middle of the rink. 
 
 Two goals were made, one by Starbright and the 
 other by Merriwell. The New London men, growing 
 more and more furious, tried again and again to cage 
 the ball; but Bruce Browning was seemingly himself 
 again, and each time cleverly blocked it and kept the 
 Yale cage empty. 
 
 "Beat 'em out of sight!" Higgins yelled from his 
 seat in the balcony ; and Merriwell seemed suddenly to 
 resolve to do this, and show the spectators what real 
 polo-playing looked like. He was angered, too, by 
 the dastardly blow which had been given Bruce and by 
 the attempt against Starbright. 
 
 There were not many minutes more of play, but in 
 that time Merriwell proved his worthiness of the title 
 of Polo King. Again and again the New London men 
 came charging down the room with a clanking roar, 
 for a struggle for the ball, but Merriwell's men, seem- 
 ing to be imbued with the resolution which had come 
 to Frank, met them firmly, took the ball from them 
 easily, and, shooting it from man to man in beautiful 
 team play, caged it again and again. Ready caged a 
 goal, being followed by Bart Hodge, and he by Dick 
 Starbright. Each time, when these goals were made, 
 it was Merriwell who sent the ball to the one who made 
 the goal, sending it at just the right time and in just 
 the right way to enable the player to do the work. 
 
 Then Merriwell himself took a hand at the work
 
 140 The Polo King. 
 
 of goal-making, and caged the ball twice in less than 
 two minutes of play. 
 
 The New London men found that they simply were 
 not in it, though they tried to pull themselves together 
 and prevent this furious goal-making on the part of 
 the Yale team. Bascom hopped up and down and to 
 and fro in front of the cage, like the proverbial chicken 
 on the proverbial pan of live coals. He lunged, kicked, 
 flounced, and writhed; but he could not prevent the 
 goals, for they seemed to shoot from Merry's stick past 
 his lunging feet, over them, under them, and between 
 them. 
 
 Everybody in the big barnlike building was standing 
 up in mad excitement, as the game thus drew toward 
 its close, and Bill Higgins was whooping as if he 
 meant to take off the roof.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE BLOW OF THE HYPNOTIST. 
 
 While the polo-teams were battling at New London, 
 Dion Santenel was not idle. Charles Conrad Merri- 
 well, sitting up-stairs in his pleasant front room at the 
 New Haven House, looking over a paper, heard a 
 knock on the door, and a colored boy came in bear- 
 ing a card. 
 
 "Fisher Stokes, stock-broker and mining-agent, 
 Denver, Colorado," was what Mr. Merriwell read on 
 the card. 
 
 "Been waiting for you," said Merriwell, smiling 
 pleasantly, when "Stokes" was shown into the room. 
 
 "Detained by a little business down-town," the man 
 explained suavely, giving the apartment a comprehen- 
 sive, sweeping glance out of the corners of his dark 
 eyes before sinking into the chair which Merriwell po- 
 litely placed for him. 
 
 The furnishing was substantial and old-fashioned. 
 In the center of the room was a round-topped table 
 covered with a heavy slab of marble. Between the 
 two windows which looked out on Chapel Street and 
 the green was a long pier-glass. A green velvet carpet 
 covered the floor, and the room was furnished with 
 an abundance of comfortable chairs and a sofa. An
 
 142 The Blow of the Hypnotist. 
 
 alcove bedroom opened off from this main room, its 
 doorway half -concealed by curtains. In addition to 
 this there was a bathroom. The apartments were the 
 best and most expensive in the house, and the house the 
 best that New Haven afforded. 
 
 As Fisher Stokes took all this in, he came to the 
 quick conclusion that the white-haired man who had 
 been waiting for him, seated at the round marble- 
 topped center-table, was comfortably situated, to say 
 the least. 
 
 "As I had to come on to New York, I wired you 
 that I would call here this afternoon to see you about 
 the shares in the Anaconda group in the Cripple Creek 
 district," he continued, beginning to open a case which 
 the colored boy had brought into the room. He 
 looked now with his keen, dark eyes at Merriwell pretty 
 much as he had looked at the room and its furnishings. 
 
 "I knew you were Merriwell as soon as I saw you. 
 I think I should have known you, even if I had met 
 you by chance in the street, though we have never 
 met before. You see, I had a man in my office who 
 once worked for you in Arizona in a minor capacity. 
 When he found out that I was handling stocks for 
 you, he became so interested that he gave me a com- 
 plete description of your personal appearance and told 
 so many things concerning you that I have felt for 
 months as if we were personally acquainted. Some 
 of this business might have been conducted by mail and 
 wire, but I thought, as I was so near in New York,
 
 The Blow of the Hypnotist. 143 
 
 that it was a duty I owed to myself and you to run 
 up and see you." 
 
 There was nothing in the man's appearance to in- 
 dicate to Merriwell that he was Brandon Drood, alias 
 Dion Santenel, his old and bitter enemy, from whose 
 power he had escaped so short a time before, through 
 the aid of Frank. "Fisher Stokes," who was evidently 
 past middle age, was almost Frenchy in appearance, 
 with well-waxed mustache and imperial that hid the 
 lines of his thin lips and cold, cruel mouth. His thin, 
 straight form was encased in a dark-gray business 
 suit A diamond blazed on the middle finger of his 
 left hand and another shone in his scarp-pin. The 
 fiery gleam of the eyes had been subdued and almost 
 banished; and, as he talked, Merriwell noticed that 
 his voice was soft and well modulated. It held noth- 
 ing of the real accents of Brandon Drood, nor of the 
 droning tones of the pretended Hindu. In all things 
 "Fisher Stokes" seemed to be what he professed to 
 be, a prosperous, alert, rather self-important mining- 
 broker of the West. And, as Mr. Merriwell had never 
 seen the real Fisher Stokes, who was handling West- 
 ern mining-shares for him, he was the more easily de- 
 ceived. 
 
 "What was the name of the man ?" Merriwell asked, 
 at once interested in Drood's statement ; for, like many 
 men who have made themselves immensely wealthy by 
 a lucky turn of fortune, Merriwell was sometimes gar- 
 rulously fond of recalling and dilating on the past and 
 on the days of his hardships and misfortune.
 
 144 The Blow of the Hypnotist 
 
 "Byron Macomber." 
 
 "Ah, yes!" 
 
 Mr. Merriwell's face lighted. 
 
 "Macomber was one of my most trusted clerks while 
 I was in Arizona. So he is with you now? I am 
 afraid that I failed to reward him properly for his 
 services to me. Tell him so, please, and that at any 
 time if he needs aid I shall be glad to extend it." 
 
 Santenel had taken the papers from the leathern 
 case and placed them on the table. 
 
 Then the fiery gleam came into Santenel's eyes 
 those terrible, fascinating, serpentlike eyes and they 
 glowed and burned, contracting and expanding their 
 pupils, as they eagerly studied the face of Charles 
 Conrad Merriwell. 
 
 "So soon!" Santenel mentally croaked. "So soon I 
 have him in my power! And I feared it might be 
 the work of hours. Yes, he is already under my influ- 
 ence and does not know it. I have him again. Ah! 
 
 Charles Conrad Merriwell! You, who hounded me 
 
 \ 
 
 over the earth until at length I turned at bay, deter- 
 mined to crush you instead of permitting you to crush 
 me, I have you again in my power, and you shall not 
 escape!" 
 
 The reflective light began to fade out of the eyes of 
 Mr. Merriwell, to be replaced by a look of vacancy. 
 Then he made a struggle to arouse himself, but the 
 struggle was weak and inflective. Santenel's mysteri-
 
 The Blow of the Hypnotist 145 
 
 ous power was already over him, holding his will in 
 subjection. 
 
 And Frank, who had saved him before, was far 
 off in New London, battling with the New London 
 polo-team! * 
 
 In a little while Santencl began to talk in a low, 
 soothing monotone, still stabbing Mcrriwell's face and 
 eyes with his terrible eyes. 
 
 "In those days I was not known as Dion Santenel," 
 he droned, as if seekh.j to strengthen a memory that 
 he sought to stir in the mind of the man he was subju- 
 gating. "Then I was called Brandon Drood. You 
 struck me, you know struck me like a dog, for cheat- 
 ing you at cards ; and I planned a revenge, a sweet re- 
 venge. I discovered, as I lay on my bed where your 
 blow had placed me, that I was able to hypnotize you 
 made the first discovery of the fact that I have that 
 mysterious power over other men. I used it I made 
 you imprison yourself in that tunnel in the Ragged 
 Queen Mine, where I supposed you would die. But 
 you found a way out. You regained possession of 
 what I thought a used-out mine, which you named the 
 Lost Man, and from which you dug a fortune. Then, 
 with that wealth at your back, you began to hound 
 me, pursuing me everywhere, dragging me down when 
 I climbed to affluence and striking at me without 
 mercy. But now my time has come! The worm has 
 turned. I have studied and plotted and planned for 
 this hour. For this hour I have made myself all men 
 coming and going with the silence of night and like
 
 146 The Blow of the Hypnotist. 
 
 the changing characters on the theater boards. All for 
 this hour! What have I not suffered, endured? For 
 this hour! For this hour!" 
 
 The dilating and contracting pupils seemed minia- 
 ture furnaces with their shooting flames, and the words 
 lulled Merriwell as the crooning lullaby of a mother 
 lulls to sleep the babe. 
 
 "You are in my power, and you will do as I wish !" 
 Santenel said at length, ceasing that low droning. 
 
 He arose and locked the door, turning the key in 
 the lock and hanging a cloth over it to keep out any 
 penetrating gaze, though the position of the door made 
 it most unlikely that any one could see where Merriwell 
 sat, bolt upright now in the chair. 
 
 Coming back, Santenel made a pass with his hands 
 over Merriwell's face, commanded him to rouse up, 
 and Merriwell sat up yawning as if he had been 
 aroused from a nap. He looked at Santenel with va- 
 cant curiosity. 
 
 "Now as to that business," said Santenel, spreading 
 out some blank paper on the marblvtopped table and 
 producing pen and ink. 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Merriwell. "Let me see, I forgot 
 what it was?" 
 
 "This is the last day of your life, you know ! When 
 the sun rises to-morrow, Charles Conrad Merriwell 
 will have ceased to exist. Aye! before the sun goes 
 down in the west to-night goes down where the 
 Ragged Queen was and the Lost Man Mine now is - 
 you will be gone from this world!"
 
 The Blow of the Hypnotist. 147 
 
 "Yes, yes!" Merriwell assented, without a note of 
 fear or regret in his voice. "That was what brought 
 you here? I had forgotten, but that was it" 
 
 "But before you go I want you to write a state- 
 ment, which will show the world why you go and what 
 is to become of some of your property a great deal 
 of your property." 
 
 "Yes, yes!" Merriwell again assented. 
 
 Santenel produced a book of bank-checks which he 
 had previously rilled in. There were many of them, all 
 for large amounts, and bearing various dates, some as 
 much as six months before. 
 
 "You are not so wealthy as the world thinks you, 
 when your debts are paid ! My commissions for kiting 
 the Blue Bird mining-stock for you were one hundred 
 thousand dollars. It was no fault of mine that the 
 Blue Bird was a worthless hole in the ground. You 
 knew that, and I was only pushing your ventures. You 
 lost, but you gave me two notes of fifty thousand each 
 for my commission." 
 
 He pushed out two notes, which Merriwell merely 
 stared at. 
 
 "Then I took up and developed the Golden Nugget, 
 at a cost to you of one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars, every cent of which I paid out of my own 
 pocket, though for business reasons we permitted the 
 world to think you advanced the money yourself. The 
 Golden Nugget had no golden nuggets in it, and you 
 lost; but, of course, I must have my money, and you
 
 148 The Blow of the Hypnotist. 
 
 gave me two more notes for that, each of seventy-five 
 thousand dollars." 
 
 He pushed them over, properly rilled out, bearing 
 interest, and a date of five months previous. 
 
 "Then there was that big deal in Rocky Mountain 
 coal land, and all those other deals which you so readily 
 remember. The whole of it amounts to eight hundred 
 thousand dollars, and I should make it two millions 
 if I wasn't afraid of the courts. Sometimes a man's 
 desire to suddenly enrich himself bumps him up against 
 the courts, and he loses all that he hoped to gain and 
 more, too. Your son Frank is a fighter!" 
 
 These last remarks seemed to be directed to himself 
 and not to Merriwell, and Merriwell appeared not to 
 hear them. 
 
 Santenel slowly pushed the prepared notes across 
 the table and reached out the pen to Merriwell, the lat- 
 ter taking it without hesitation. 
 
 "You will sign these notes; after which you will 
 prepare a written statement of the reasons which led 
 you to take a sudden departure from this earthly 
 sphere !" 
 
 Merriwell drew the notes to him, not noticing that 
 they were drawn payable to another name than that of 
 "Fisher Stokes," and, dipping the pen in the ink-well, 
 he proceeded to append his name. 
 
 Santenel dried the ink of the signatures with a blot- 
 ter and placed the notes in a little heap on the marble
 
 The Blow of the Hypnotist. 149 
 
 table. Then he shoved a sheet of paper to Merriweli 
 and commanded him to write. 
 
 "This is what you are to say," commanded Santenel, 
 and Charles Conrad Merriweli set his pen to the paper : 
 
 "To MY SON FRANK. 
 
 "DEAR FRANK : The only regret I have is in leav- 
 ing you, for I know that you love me and that you 
 will be shocked and grieved at my death, the death of 
 a suicide. But life has become unbearable to me. I 
 can stand it no longer. I have studiously concealed 
 this from you, though I fear sometimes that you have 
 read it in my face. I am in good mental health; but 
 I have ceased to have any desire to live. You have 
 sometimes noticed idiosyncrasies in me. The at- 
 tempt to hide from you my real feelings and my heart- 
 sickness of the world will go far toward explaining 
 them. I hope that my body will not be cast up by the 
 waves, and that if it should be, it may lie unburied, 
 though this last I know you will not permit. Pay all 
 my debts. I have some notes outstanding, among 
 others some heavy ones occasioned by wildcat mining 
 speculation. These I must ask you to meet. The rest 
 of my fortune is yours. So good-by; don't think too 
 hard of me, and do not grieve, for I am not worthy 
 of it. 
 
 "Your -unfortunate father, 
 
 "CHARLES CONRAD MERRIWELL." 
 
 This was properly dated. 
 
 "We will leave that here on the table or, rather, 
 you will; and then you will do what I tell you. Just 
 a plunge, and it will all be over. Any man might 
 crave so easy an exit from the world!"
 
 I5O The Blow of the Hypnotist 
 
 He was again fixing his terrible eyes on th now 
 almost vacant face of Frank's father, thinking at the 
 same time of the steps he must now take to carry out 
 his plan to its conclusion and secure his own safety. 
 "You will do all that I tell you?" 
 "Yes," Merriwell answered. "Everything!"
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 INZA TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 Spat whiz plunk ! The game was still on at New 
 London, and Frank Merriwell drove and caged a ball. 
 
 The referee's whistle blew, denoting the close of 
 the last period of the game ; and he followed this with 
 the announcement of the scores: 
 
 "Goals made by Yale, fifteen; by New London, 
 four." 
 
 Dade Morgan was gnawing his smiling lips, in his 
 seat in the balcony. 
 
 "Curse the fellows, they have failed me!" he was 
 thinking. 
 
 Then he saw Bascom jostle heavily against Dick 
 Starbright! saw a sudden altercation, and beheld Bas- 
 com's polo-stick flash through the air. When it fell, 
 Dick Starbright fell with it. 
 
 The crowd was rising and streaming out of the 
 building. Bascom dived to the nearest netting, which 
 he cut away with furious slashes of a knife, leaped 
 through the opening thus made, pushed aside the men 
 who were there, and sprang for a small door, the posi- 
 tion of which he had previously ascertained. Before 
 the extent of Starbright's injury could be known or 
 a pursuit organized Bascom was gone. 
 
 Frank Merriwell was the first to reach Starbright.
 
 152 Inza to the Rescue. 
 
 He lifted Dick and saw that the polo-stick had struck 
 his head. There was a small gash and some blood. 
 But Frank saw almost immediately that, though the 
 blow had knocked Starbright senseless, its effects were 
 not likely to be of a serious character. 
 
 A doctor came out of the crowd, and an excited 
 group soon gathered in the "surface." 
 
 Bart Hodge and others were trying to discover what 
 had become of Bascom. The other members of the 
 New London polo-team pushed into the crowd and 
 expressed their sympathy, and were free in their decla- 
 rations that Bascom must have acted in a fit of anger 
 on the impulse of the moment and without any malice. 
 
 Dick Starbright did not long remain unconscious. 
 The blow had been aimed well enough, but Dick's up- 
 thrust arm had deflected it and it had fallen glancingly, 
 producing only temporary concussion. 
 
 "Oh, he's all right!" 
 
 The doctor said it, and the doctor laughed encour- 
 agingly. A boy pushed toward Frank with a tele- 
 gram. Frank tore open the envelope and read: 
 
 "Man here with your father. I think D. S. Come 
 quick. Will meet you at wreck with automobile. 
 
 "INZA." 
 
 Inza Burrage had sent it from New Haven. 
 
 Frank, after a cheering word to Dick Starbright, 
 jumped out of the room, hurrying toward the street 
 without changing his clothing. As a short cut, he 
 took the little door through which Bascom had fled.
 
 Inza to the Rescue. 153 
 
 He was about to emerge into the light from a small 
 and unused side entrance, when he heard a rustling 
 and became aware that a man who had been about to 
 leave the place ahead of him had drawn back and was 
 now apparently in hiding. 
 
 "Bascom!" was Frank's thought. 
 
 Before the man knew that his presence had been 
 observed, Frank was on him, pouncing down like an 
 eagle. 
 
 It was indeed Bascom, who had succeeded in hiding 
 in the building, and who, fancying that the coast was 
 now somewhat clear, had decided to venture forth and 
 try to get out of the town before a more thorough 
 search might reveal his place of hiding. 
 
 Frank clutched him by the throat, bore him back- 
 ward to the floor, calling for assistance. Before it 
 came, however, he had found a rope and tied Bascom 
 up ready to turn him over to the authorities. 
 
 Then he relinquished him to Hodge, who had come 
 with others in answer to his call. After a few words 
 with this most faithful friend, Frank hurried away 
 for the railway-station and telegraph-office. 
 
 There he learned that a freight had been wrecked 
 on its way from New Haven, and that the track would 
 not be open for some time. 
 
 Then he fully understood Inza's message. It would 
 be impossible for him to get through to New Haven 
 by rail, because of this wreck; and she would be at 
 the place where the wreck occurred, with the automo-
 
 154 l nza to the Rescue. 
 
 bile, ready to take him on into New Haven at the 
 highest speed of the auto, as soon as he reached her. 
 
 "Brave and quick-witted as ever!" was his thought. 
 "I wonder what she has learned of Dion Santenel 
 now? I thought the rascal would abandon his at- 
 tempts and be afraid to return to New Haven. But I 
 will get there, and I will thwart him in his scheme, 
 whatever it is." 
 
 Frank might not have been so confident if he had 
 known just what Santenel was doing, and how he was 
 succeeding. 
 
 "When will there be a train through to New 
 Haven?" he asked of the agent. 
 
 "All trains abandoned," was the answer. 
 
 "What about a wrecking-train ?" 
 
 "It won't take passengers, and it will go no farther 
 than the wreck." 
 
 Frank did not ask anything more, except the distance 
 the wreck had occurred from New Haven. He heard 
 two men talking, and from their conversation learned 
 that the wrecking-train would be along in ten or fif- 
 teen minutes, from some city down the road, and that 
 the chances were it would go through New London 
 without making a stop. 
 
 Frank's mind was at once made up. He would try 
 to get on that wrecking-train, even if he had to make 
 a flying leap for it at great risk from the New London 
 platform. Then he sent a message to Inza. 
 
 "Ten minutes to spare, anyway !' he reflected. "I'll 
 make a change in my clothes."
 
 Inza to the Rescue. 155 
 
 Hurrying back to the polo-rink for this purpose, he 
 thought over the message from Inza. There was a 
 possibility that she might have been deceived as to 
 the identity of the man who was with his father, but 
 Frank knew that her eyes were keen. The chances 
 were that she was not deceived. In that case, there 
 could be no doubt that the elder Merriwell was in 
 serious peril. 
 
 The thought that he might be too late made Frank 
 wish for a special train for the scene of the wreck; 
 but that could not be had in New London. Nor was 
 anything to be gained by trying to hire a special en- 
 gine. He decided that if he missed the wrecking-train 
 he would try to get a special engine by wire. 
 
 When he returned to the station, having been 
 stopped on the way by crowds of enthusiastic men 
 who insisted on shaking hands with him over the great 
 fight he and his men had made in the polo-game, he 
 sent a telegram to Selton Dirk, the little New Haven 
 detective whom he had more than once employed, 
 asking Dirk to call on his father at the New Haven 
 House and do what in his judgment he thought proper. 
 
 "Dirk is quick and he'll catch on," was Frank's 
 thought, as he gave this message to the operator and 
 asked him to hurry it through. The message went 
 through ; but Frank did not know until later that Dirk 
 was out of the city and that it could not reach him. 
 
 The whistle of the engine of the special wrecking- 
 train was heard at this moment. Its character told 
 him that the train was not to stop.
 
 156 Inza to the Rescue. 
 
 Frank remained close against the wall of the station 
 until the engine whirled in sight, then walked toward it. 
 
 Five miles out from New Haven, at the scene of 
 the wreck, Inza Burrage sat in Frank Merriwell's auto- 
 mobile, with smiling confidence. She had received 
 his message, which said he would reach that point on 
 the first train through, and she believed he would do 
 so, even though the men who were plowing round the 
 wreck with spades and picks told her that the big 
 wrecking-train, whose coming they anxiously awaited, 
 would not stop at New London, and that her friend 
 could not possibly come through on that. 
 
 When the train came and stopped at the wreck Inza 
 found her faith in Merriwell justified. He was in 
 the caboose of the wrecking-train; and, leaping down 
 the clay embankment, he extended his hands to her, 
 climbing at once into the automobile. 
 
 "I knew you'd be waiting for me !' he said, starting 
 the machine. 
 
 "And I knew that you would come, even though the 
 men at the wreck told me you couldn't. You always 
 do the things that other men can't do, or are too timid 
 to do, and I knew it would be so this time." 
 
 "It was very simple," Frank answered. "There 
 were some empty fiat cars on the New London siding. 
 I climbed upon these, took a good run along them as 
 if I was going at a hurdle when the wrecking-train 
 came along, and jumped from them to a flat car of the
 
 Inza to the Rescue. 
 
 train. It was a lively jump, but I made it. The con- 
 ductor didn't want me there, and said I oughtn't to be 
 there, and some other things, but he was in too big 
 a hurry to stop and put me off, as I knew he would 
 be, and I came right through at a double quick, with- 
 out further trouble." 
 
 He gave the lever a touch and sent the automobile 
 forward at its highest speed. 
 
 "Father?" he questioned simply. 
 
 "I'm sure that Santenel is with him! I shouldn't 
 have thought anything about it, if you hadn't told me 
 that awful story of the Hindu. I saw this man, and 
 some way I was sure he was the Hindu, for you'll 
 recollect that I saw the Hindu at the charity fair. 
 Well, I followed him along Chapel Street, saw him 
 enter the New Haven House, and heard him ask to 
 have his card taken up to Charles Conrad Merriwell! 
 Perhaps I was a bit bold in following him into the 
 New Haven House, but I thought it a thing I ought to 
 do, and there was no time to get any one else to do it. 
 
 "Before venturing to send you the telegram I hired 
 a boy on the street to go again to the New Haven 
 House and ask the proprietor if Mr. Merriwell could 
 be seen, and he came back and said that Mr. Merriwell 
 was busily engaged and was to be seen by no one. 
 Then I sent you the telegram, and as soon as I got your 
 answer I started for this point with your automobile." 
 
 For a time there was nothing heard but the br-r-r-r-r 
 of the automobile, as it took the straight road before 
 it like a racer under Frank's manipulation. He had
 
 158 Inza to the Rescue. 
 
 an inner feeling that Inza's keen eyes had seen and 
 perceived the truth, and that his father was in the 
 greatest peril of his life. 
 
 The feeling that makes a cat love to toy with a 
 mouse which is helpless in its power and half-uncon- 
 scious rilled the soul of Dion Santenel. 
 
 "If Frank Merriwell should learn that I am here 
 he could not reach me, unless he has the wings of a 
 bird!" the villain chuckled, as he looked at Charles 
 Conrad Merriwell. "If he should telegraph Selton 
 Dirk, Dirk is in New York City, sent there on a mis- 
 sion by one of my trusted agents. If any ordinary 
 policeman should attempt to touch me, I should simply 
 laugh at him and make the fellow go away feeling 
 worse than a sneak for having suspected me. Every- 
 thing has worked to my hand. Frank is away, and 
 can't even dream of the plot that sent him away, and 
 I am free to work my will !" 
 
 Then he began again to talk to the elder Merriwell, 
 speaking in the droning way he sometimes delighted 
 to affect, again playing with the helpless man like 
 the cat with the mouse. By and by he took up the 
 statement which Merriwell had prepared at his dicta- 
 tion, smilingly read it, and placed it on the table in a 
 conspicuous manner, with a paper-weight to hold it 
 down. 
 
 After that, he looked through the notes bearing the 
 signature of Charles Conrad Merriwell, ascertained
 
 Inza to the Rescue. 159 
 
 that they were all right in every way on their surface, 
 and tucked them away in an inner pocket in a leather 
 wallet. 
 
 "Come ! It's time to go !" he said, speaking to Mer- 
 riwell. 
 
 Merriwell aroused. 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 "You will take the electric car at this corner for 
 the boat landings. There you will hire a boat or steal 
 one, row out a half-mile from shore, and throw your- 
 self overboard and sink. This letter on the table will 
 explain to the world why. This is my command. 
 You will do it. You obeyed me in the mine and fired 
 the blast that shut you in; you must obey me as im- 
 plicitly in this. I will it, and my will is now your 
 law. Go!" 
 
 His face had assumed a wolfish look, and his eyes 
 were again shooting out their red gleams. 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 Merriwell made the promise and rose to his feet to 
 carry it out, as completely subjected to the will of the 
 man before him as if he were an automaton. 
 
 "But I will go first," said Santenel, speaking to 
 Charles Merriwell. "Ten minutes after I am gone 
 you will leave this house and carry out my instructions. 
 Good-by!" 
 
 "Victory is mine!" chuckled Santenel, as he turned 
 to leave the room. 
 
 At that moment there was a whirr of wheels and the 
 br-r-r-r of an automobile in the street, which stopped
 
 160 Inza to the Rescue. 
 
 in front of the house. A second later and a knock 
 sounded on the door. 
 
 Santenel muttered a malediction, but walked to the 
 door and opened it. 
 
 The colored boy stood there, and with him Frank 
 Merriwell. 
 
 Before Santenel could recover from his surprise and 
 mentally resume his pretended character of "Fisher 
 Stokes," tLe broker, Frank crowded through the door- 
 way and stood before him. 
 
 "You scoundrel!" Frank hissed, and with a swoop 
 of his hand he tore away the false mustache and im- 
 perial. 
 
 With a cry of defeat and fear Santenel leaped at 
 Frank, and was stricken to the floor, where he lay in a 
 senseless heap. 
 
 Frank Merriwell had come in time!
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE FALL 0^ SANTENEL. 
 
 With difficulty Frank Merriwell held himself in 
 check. He was in a towering rage, and the impulse 
 was strong in him to hurl himself on the prostrate 
 form of Dion Santenel. He felt an awful thirst for 
 the life of the wretch who lay on the floor before 
 him, sent there by a mighty blow of his fist. Twice 
 before had such a feeling come to him once when he 
 struggled with Sport Harris on the rotten bridge in 
 England, and again when he overthrew Santenel in 
 Louisville and held his life, as it were, in the hollow 
 of his hand. 
 
 "You miserable whelp!" he panted, looking with 
 loathing and contempt into the face of the man who 
 had sought his father's ruin and death. 
 
 He cast a quick glance at his father, who had 
 dropped down, crouching, into the chair by the marble- 
 topped center-table. 
 
 Though Santenel had now entirely recovered con- 
 sciousness, he lay cowering on the floor, in deadly fear 
 of the young athlete whose wrath he had felt. The 
 fierce fire had gone out of his shining black eyes, to be 
 replaced by a gleam that was full of subdued and 
 cowardly hate. 
 
 Then he recollected that he had come to the room,
 
 1 62 The Fall of Santenel. 
 
 not in the person of Dion Santenel, or Brandon Drood, 
 or even of Hector King, but as "Fisher Stokes," the 
 mining speculator and stock-broker of Denver. 
 
 "You are making a mistake !" he cried quickly. "I 
 don't know why you knocked me down as you did. 
 I'd have you know, sir, that I am Fisher Stokes, of 
 Denver, stock-broker and mining speculator. And 
 I shall have you arrested for this insult and for your 
 unwarranted blow!" 
 
 "Bah !" Frank sneered. "Put these on, will you ?" 
 
 He snatched up the false mustache and imperial 
 which he had torn from the man's face but a few mo- 
 ments before, and flung them at him. 
 
 Santenel sank back, pale and trembling. He saw 
 that further lies and threats would not serve him. The 
 fire died out of his eyes, to be replaced by a look of 
 pleading. He glanced toward the door. 
 
 Frank turned to the colored boy, who stood dumb 
 with amazement, and sent him with a hasty message 
 to Inza, who was waiting below. The boy vanished, 
 diving for the elevator with comical speed. 
 
 Santenel rose to his feet and looked longingly at one 
 of the closed windows. 
 
 "You can't go out by the door," said Frank, "and 
 if you pitch yourself out of that window it will be 
 pretty sure to save the hangman an unpleasant job." 
 
 Santenel groped weakly to a chair. 
 
 "You are making a great mistake," he quiveringly 
 urged. "On my honor, Mr. Merriwell, you are making 
 a dreadful mistake!"
 
 The Fall of Santenel. 163 
 
 "Release him from that spell!" Frank ordered, in 
 so commanding a tone that Santenel fairly leaped in 
 his chair. 
 
 "Yes, yes !" the hypnotist replied, though he wanted 
 to deny that the elder Merriwell was under any spell. 
 But he dicj not dare to do this ; and, with a word and 
 a few passes of his long, thin hands, he removed the 
 strange influence under which Charles Conrad Merri- 
 well had been laboring. 
 
 The change produced was remarkable. The face re- 
 sumed its accustomed appearance and the eyes held 
 their natural light, except that Mr. Merriwell seemed 
 to be stupefied by what he beheld. He recognized 
 Frank, but it was clear that he did not recognize the 
 man who was retreating from him and who soon again 
 crouched uncomfortably in the chair. 
 
 "It's all right, father. This is our mutual friend, 
 Santenel." 
 
 Frank said this with an unnatural and bitter laugh. 
 
 "Our mutual friend has struck again, and again he 
 has failed!" 
 
 The elder Merriwell could hardly credit the words. 
 He recalled the entrance into the room of "Fisher 
 Stokes," the pretended stock-broker. The man who 
 crouched and whined in the chair wore the same cloth- 
 ing, yet the mustache and imperial and the jaunty busi- 
 ness air were gone. What had occurred after the 
 man's entrance and their talk of a few moments 
 Charles Merriwell could not remember. The interval 
 was now a blank to him.
 
 1 64 The Fall of Santenel. 
 
 Yet, with eyes enlightened by Frank's words, he 
 perceived that this was really "Fisher Stokes," minus 
 the mustache and imperial, which he now saw on the 
 floor; and Frank had assured him that the man v/as 
 his bitter and deadly enemy, Dion Santenel. 
 
 Charles Merriwell's brain whirled when he tried to 
 comprehend this transition and the peril he had been 
 in. A sense of terror rilled him, giving to his face, 
 under its crown of white hair, a pitiful look. 
 
 "It must be as you say!" he managed to articulate. 
 
 Santenel was racking his clever brain for something 
 that would stand him in stead now, and trying at the 
 same time to still the trembling of his limbs and sub- 
 due the fear that filled him. 
 
 "I am Santenel," he gaspingly confessed. "But 
 there is a great mistake." 
 
 He saw the "confession" which he had forced 
 Charles Merriwell to write, lying, as he had meant to 
 leave it, on the marble-topped table. He put out his 
 hand, hoping he might be able to secure it unobserved. 
 
 Frank Merriwell saw the movement, and, advan- 
 cing to the table, secured the writing, his face darken- 
 ing as he read it over, for it revealed in all its details 
 Santenel's cruel plan against his father. Nevertheless, 
 Frank put it quietly in his pocket. He had regained 
 control of himself. 
 
 Santenel sat with fear-filled face and blue lips, star- 
 ing at him. 
 
 "What do you intend to do with me?" he asked,
 
 The Fall of Santenel. 165 
 
 seeing that further efforts at evasion and concealment 
 were useless. 
 
 There was a rap on the door, followed instantly by 
 entering footsteps. 
 
 "This!" said Frank. 
 
 Two officers had come in, sent by Inza in response 
 to the request conveyed to her by the colored boy. 
 Santenel rose, after another hesitating glance at the 
 closed windows. Then his coolness returned to him. 
 He advanced toward the officers. 
 
 "I am informed that you have been sent for to 
 place me under arrest. I demand to know with what 
 I am charged, for I have committed no crime. You 
 have no right to seize me without a proper warrant, 
 merely on complaint of this person!" 
 
 The smaller officer smiled and produced a paper, 
 
 "We have a warrant," he said. "It was sworn out 
 by a young lady, Miss Inza Burrage, who charges 
 that you cut the balloon-rope on the day of the Yale- 
 Carlisle football-game, with the intention of causing 
 her death and the death of Charles Conrad Merriwell, 
 who was in the balloon with her. You will see, there- 
 fore, that we can do nothing but go ahead, and we 
 place you under arrest."
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 FORCING HIS ENEMY'S HAND. 
 
 Frank Merriwell took his way thoughtfully toward 
 the rooms of Dade Morgan, whither Dade had gone 
 but a moment before. Dion Santenel lay in prison, 
 having been committed to jail that afternoon. 
 
 When Frank rapped on the door of Morgan's room, 
 the freshman calmly invited him to come in. He was 
 sitting on his trunk, with various articles scattered 
 about in confusion. Appearances indicated that he 
 had contemplated a hasty flight from New Haven. 
 
 "Not going to leave us?" Frank asked, dropping 
 into the chair to which Morgan pointed. 
 
 "No ! What made you think so ?" 
 
 "This array, or, rather, disarray." 
 
 "Merely getting some things together for the 
 laundry." 
 
 He smiled in his pleasant way and really was so cool 
 that Frank could not help admiring him. 
 
 "I think I'll close the door," said Frank, stepping 
 over and shutting it. "I came up for a little talk." 
 
 Dade did not get off the trunk. 
 
 "It is a bit cool in here. I ought to have done 
 that myself. You'll pardon me." 
 
 "Perhaps you can guess what I want to say?" 
 
 "I suppose it's something about that polo-game.
 
 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 167 
 
 I'm free to admit that I wanted the other fellows to 
 beat, Merriwell, chiefly because I don't like certain 
 members of your team. I hope the fact that I bet 
 on the other team doesn't stick in your crop?" 
 
 "No; I didn't intend to talk of the polo-game. As 
 for that rascally goal-tend who struck Dick Starbright 
 on the head and laid him out, the law will take care 
 of him. Of course, you had nothing to do with 
 that?" 
 
 Dade flushed. 
 
 "It's an insult to insinuate such a thing, Merriwell !" 
 
 "I beg your pardon, then, if I am wrong. I have 
 no means of knowing; but I'm fully aware of the 
 fact that you don't like Starbright and you would 
 do such a thing!" 
 
 Dade lowered his eyelids and turned over a pair 
 of golf -stockings which lay on the trunk-lid beside 
 him. He feared what was coming and shrank from 
 it. 
 
 "I didn't come up here for polite talk, Morgan," 
 Frank went remorselessly on. "We're alone here?" 
 
 "Quite alone." 
 
 He had thrown down the stockings and now turned 
 squarely toward Frank. 
 
 "You know that Hector King is in prison!" 
 
 Dade paled and perceptibly weakened. 
 
 "I don't know the man. I heard that you had sent 
 somebody to jail this afternoon, but I thought it was 
 another name." 
 
 "We want to be quite plain, Morgan. A man was
 
 1 68 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 
 
 jailed here to-day. He is your friend, Hector King, 
 alias Dion Santenel, alias a dozen other things prob- 
 ably. What you and he have plotted against me and 
 my father I don't know; but I know of some things 
 enough to send him 'up/ I am sure. As I said, I 
 will be quite frank with you. It is my way. I can't 
 prove it, but I am sure that all that skyrockety bet- 
 ting, on money which I believe you furnished, was 
 done to get me and my polo-team out of New Haven 
 to-day. I can't prove it, and may not be able to prove 
 it, unless Santenel makes a confession that you did 
 that to give him opportunity to work his plans against 
 my father." 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about !" 
 Dade protested. 
 
 "I can't prove those things, but I think I have col- 
 lected enough evidence of various kinds against you 
 to convince the faculty that you are not a proper per- 
 son to be a student in Yale. Perhaps I can't put you 
 in jail, but I can send you headlong out of college." 
 
 Dade whitened still more. 
 
 "And that is what you intend to do ?" he demanded, 
 almost fiercely. 
 
 "I don't know. I have as yet reached no conclu- 
 sion. But I am here now to ask you to tell me why 
 you have struck at me? I see that there is a connec- 
 tion between you and Hector King, alias Santenel. 
 When you entered Yale, at the beginning of this year, 
 you had not, so far as I know, ever seen me before. 
 At once you became my bitterest enemy. These things
 
 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 169 
 
 are not done without reason. You had some powerful 
 reason." 
 
 T 
 
 Merriwell cut short the protest. 
 
 "You told me once, you will remember, that you 
 were my enemy. I did not ask why, at the time. 
 I can see why enmity might grow up between you and 
 such a man as Starbright might grow up, I say. 
 Yours against me did not grow up ; it was full grown 
 at the start, and without apparent reason. As to 
 whether or not I use the proofs against you which 
 I have, and force your expulsion from Yale, depends 
 in a great measure on your answer to my question: 
 Why are you my enemy?" 
 
 Dade Morgan sat still, but waited a moment before 
 replying. 
 
 "If I tell you, Merriwell, you will not believe me!" 
 
 "If you tell me the truth, I will believe you. When 
 I hear your story I shall know whether it is the truth 
 or not. You won't be able to deceive me in the mat- 
 ter." 
 
 "Why, you have a multitude of enemies in Yale!" 
 Dade evaded. 
 
 "But not one who was my enemy before he knew 
 me or saw me; not one who came to the college and 
 was my deadly enemy with no seeming cause what- 
 ever. It has not been jealousy on your part, for there 
 can be no real ground for jealousy between a senior 
 and a freshman. Most of my enemies dislike me
 
 170 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 
 
 merely because of jealousy. It hasn't been so with 
 you." 
 
 Again Morgan began to evade and shuffle. Frank 
 took his watch from his pocket and consulted it. 
 
 "I've a good many things to attend to this evening. 
 I have asked my question. Suit yourself about an- 
 swering it I will not say that any answer you can 
 give will keep me from putting my proofs in the hands 
 of the faculty. Perhaps it will. I haven't yet made 
 up my mind." 
 
 "There isn't much to tell, but if I tell you all, will 
 you keep mum?" 
 
 "I haven't any promises to make. I hoped that you 
 would be able to say something in defense of your- 
 self which would incline me to let the matter drop. 
 Your sins have been largely against me, Morgan. 
 In other respects you have been a capable, even an ad- 
 mirable college man. You have, I'm told, made good 
 progress in your classes. You have, for a freshman, 
 won wonderful distinction in the field of athletics. 
 You have gathered round you many friends not of 
 a class I admire yet a numerous following. You 
 are recognized as a freshman leader. This shows that 
 you have uncommon abilities. If you should use your 
 undoubted abilities in a proper way, a great future 
 may lie before you. It might be a great wrong for me 
 to set anything in your pathway. I have asked you 
 a question. You may be able to show that you are 
 not so black as appearances indicate!" 
 
 Morgan saw that "confession and avoidance," as
 
 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 171 
 
 the lawyers phrase it, was the only safe course left 
 open to him. 
 
 "Well, it isn't much, Merriwell," he said, assuming 
 a show of frankness. 
 
 "Whatever it is?" Frank invited. 
 
 "I did come to Yale as your enemy your enemy 
 before I ever saw you! That sounds strange and even 
 mysterious, but you'll see that there is no mystery 
 about it; for the man you have put in prison is my 
 uncle!" 
 
 Frank showed his surprise. 
 
 "I thought you were in his pay !" he admitted. 
 
 "Not in his pay. If I disliked and even hated you, 
 he taught me to. He taught me, schooled me to hate 
 you and your father your father far worse than you. 
 For, as perhaps you know, your father pursued my 
 uncle nearly over the world, trying to ruin him or 
 kill him. When he made a fortune in New York, 
 speculating, your father took it from him by counter- 
 speculations which were aimed solely at him. He lost 
 the Ragged Queen Mine, and your father has taken 
 an immense fortune out of it. But for your father he 
 would to-day be a wealthy man, and I, as his only heir, 
 would be the heir to a splendid fortune. As it is, he 
 has but a beggarly pittance. He has been forced to 
 save and scrimp in many ways to get money. He 
 borrowed the money with which he sent me here to 
 Yale, and I am now living on money which he fur- 
 nishes me. He has been able at times to get hold of 
 and make use of considerable sums, but mostly by
 
 172 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 
 
 borrowing. If the truth were known and payment 
 forced, he would to-day be a pauper." 
 
 Frank could see that Dade was telling the truth in 
 the main. He believed that the story contained ex- 
 aggerations, and some concealments, but he saw that 
 its thread was true. 
 
 "That makes a good many things plain that were 
 quite dark to me before," Frank admitted. 
 
 Dade was quick to catch at the hope thus held out. 
 
 "If our positions had been reversed, Merriwell, I 
 think you would have been as bitter against me as I 
 have been against you. It isn't pleasant to feel that 
 money and fortune which rightfully are mine are in 
 the possession of some one else." 
 
 "That will do, Morgan. I haven't said that I ac- 
 cept your story without reservation, and you will not 
 be able to win me to your way of thinking by slander- 
 ing my father. I know the history of that case much 
 better than you do." 
 
 "No offense intended," Morgan urged. "I have 
 given you the story as it was told to me. It explains 
 why Mr. Santenel is so bitter against you, and why 
 I have done the things that you complain of. But I 
 have never struck at you criminally." 
 
 Dade's face was firm as he made the claim, even 
 though it was under Frank's searching glance. 
 
 "You look as if you don't believe that,. Merriwell; 
 but it is true, every word of it. I have tried to injure 
 you, I will admit, but in legitimate ways." 
 
 "Are there any legitimate ways of injuring a man?"
 
 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 173 
 
 "Well, you understand what I mean! I tried to 
 organize Yale sentiment against you. You were flying 
 pretty high when I came here, and I thought to take 
 you down." 
 
 The smile had come back to his face, and with it 
 an air of almost defiant courage. 
 
 "And failed!" said Frank. 
 
 "Well, yes; I suppose I shall have to admit that I 
 didn't accomplish just the things I intended." 
 
 "Perhaps you think that the things you attempted 
 against me were allowable; but the faculty will not 
 think so, if I go before them with the proofs." 
 
 Dade wavered again. 
 
 "I hope you won't do that." 
 
 "It will depend on you somewhat. I understand the 
 situation now, even though I don't accept everything 
 you have said as absolute truth. I will say quite 
 frankly that the villain back of you is a greater villain 
 than you are. He has reached the end of his rope. 
 Perhaps his fall will serve as a lesson." 
 
 "You're too hard on me!" Morgan insisted. "I 
 have failed in my efforts against you. Santenel has 
 even charged me with being your friend and playing 
 into your hands. Well, there are things about you, 
 Merriwell, that I like, that any one must like! I'm 
 willing to call it a truce, if you say so?" 
 
 Merriwell arose to go. 
 
 "As I said at the first, I haven't much time to spare. 
 If you understand your own interest, there will be a 
 truce on your part. As for myself, I have never done
 
 174 Forcing His Enemy's Hand. 
 
 anything to injure you. What I may do hereafter 
 will depend on you." 
 
 Dade Morgan scowled at the door after Merriwell's 
 departure. 
 
 "It's a good thing that he's squeamish. If he had 
 the disposition of some men, he would kick me out of 
 Yale without a word."
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 DASHLEIGH IS LATE AGAIN. 
 
 The snow came again, covering the levels and the 
 hills and the icy expanses of the lakes. The morning 
 after its fall, Bert Dashleigh appeared in the campus 
 on skies, and was promptly challenged by numerous 
 freshmen friends for various races. 
 
 "Hello, old ski-zicks!" said Ready, coming on the 
 scene. "I'll race you on those things. No, I don't 
 mean just that, for you'll want to wear those. I 
 mean I'll race you on another pair." 
 
 "You'll wear the other pair?" 
 
 "Yes. I'll wear a pair and you'll wear a pair, 
 and we'll race. The instructor told me yesterday that 
 my exuberant English needed pruning. He seemed to 
 think that was what I came to Yale for. And that's 
 strange, for I thought I came here to study football." 
 
 He was examining the skies as he talked. 
 
 "I thought you came here to torment freshmen!" 
 Bert mildly ventured. 
 
 "Well, yes, come to think of it, soph life would 
 hardly be worth living if it wasn't for you freshies. 
 But I'll take pity on you and overlook the wide differ- 
 ence in our stations and condescend to race with you 
 on skies this afternoon, or this morning, or any other 
 old time. I've a pair in my room. The fellow who
 
 176 Dashleigh is Late Again. 
 
 took them up there thought they needed pruning by 
 the time he got them through the doorway, and 
 stacked them up against the wall." 
 
 There are few more attractive winter sports than a 
 run into the country on Norwegian skies, especially 
 if the snow is in good condition for the sport, and 
 there are hills for swift descent. 
 
 Ready and Dashleigh made a ski-ing trip that after- 
 noon which yielded sport, pleasure, and healthful ex- 
 ercise. 
 
 "I thought likely you had something up your sleeve 
 when you challenged me this morning," Dashleigh 
 chattered, as they were on their homeward way. "I 
 thought if you were with me, though, it would be 
 hard for you to duplicate any such trick as you sophs 
 played on Starbright the other day. Say, that was too 
 bad, billing him as the 'Giant of the Wheel,' when he 
 made his bicycle trip to Guilford !" 
 
 "A freshman has no right to presume to criticize a 
 sophomore," said Ready. 
 
 But Ready was not like most of the sophomores. 
 He was so different from the other members of his 
 class that, in spite of the fact that he was an inveterate 
 practical joker, so far as the freshmen were concerned, 
 the harassed freshmen liked him surprisingly well. In 
 their eyes he stood among the sophomores pretty 
 much as Frank Merriwell stood among the seniors, 
 though the two were as unlike as is imaginable. 
 
 There was only one incident on the trip that seemed 
 worthy of an afterthought, and it was after-events
 
 Dashleigh is Late Again. 177 
 
 that caused it to be remembered. Not far from the 
 suburbs, as they were ski-ing slowly in, being some- 
 what tired, a slightly built young man, with a hand- 
 some face and dark eyes, approached them and asked 
 about the ice-hockey game which was to be played on 
 Lake Whitney soon. 
 
 "Oh, that's the match Merriwell is getting up !" said 
 Ready. 
 
 Then he gave the desired information, and the 
 fellows on skies continued on their way. 
 
 "Had a great time!" Bert declared, when he in- 
 vaded the rooms and found there his chum, Starbright. 
 "Ought to have been along. Ready is a corker!" 
 
 "No freshman tricks, then?" 
 
 "Not a trick!" 
 
 He threw himself down on the lounge. 
 
 "I'm to wind up the day by attending that 'feed* 
 to-night at Mrs. Whitlock's on Whitney Avenue. I 
 wish you'd received an invitation, for we could go 
 together." 
 
 "You mean I'd go first, and an hour later you would 
 come tagging along behind." 
 
 "Now, see here! Don't throw that at me any 
 more. I know I'm slow, but the fault hasn't always 
 been mine. When I was late at Thurlow's, it was the 
 fault of my watch. The confounded idiot who over- 
 hauled it for me ruined it." 
 
 "And that other time at Mrs. Throckmorton's ?" 
 
 Bert picked up his guitar and began to strum it. 
 Finally he put it down.
 
 178 Dashleigh is Late Again. 
 
 "Confound you! Why do you look at me that 
 way? If reasons were as plenty as blackberries, I 
 wouldn't give you a single one. I know I've been late 
 a good many times, but it will not happen this eve- 
 ning." 
 
 Dashleigh was fast earning for himself the reputa- 
 tion of being the champion procrastinator of Yale; 
 not because he desired to be slow, but through lazi- 
 ness and his inability to tear himself away from the 
 particular enjoyment in hand. For this reason, when- 
 ever he began to strum and sing, which was often, he 
 was likely to forget there were such things as lessons 
 and classes. When talking to a group on the campus, 
 he was slow to tear himself away, if the subject of the 
 conversation was interesting. If he made a oall which 
 he enjoyed, he was almost sure to prolong it beyond 
 endurance. Yet he was withal so light-hearted and 
 jolly, so genuinely unselfish, and so pleasant a com- 
 panion, that he was universally liked. 
 
 "I'll be on time this evening," he said; then he put 
 away the guitar and dived into some books, suddenly 
 remembering that there was a great quantity of un- 
 learned lore which it behooved him to stow in his brain 
 without delay if he did not want to be dropped or get 
 an awfully low rating. 
 
 Then he proceeded to forget all about the "feed" 
 at Mrs. Whitlock's, and did not remember it again 
 until nearly eight o'clock that evening. It is probable 
 he would not have recalled it then but for a remark 
 made by Jeffreys.
 
 Dashleigh is Late Again. 179 
 
 Jeffreys was a freshman, who, with other fresh- 
 men, had dropped into Bert's rooms for a jolly hour 
 or so that evening, after Dick Starbright had gone out. 
 Jeffreys was "a jolly dog," and so likewise was each 
 of his companions, and Bert was having such a good 
 time that the minutes and the hours slipped by almost 
 unnoticed. 
 
 "They'll have a bang-up time at Whitlock's !" 
 Jeffreys casually remarked. 
 
 Dashleigh fairly jumped out of his chair. 
 
 "Gee!" 
 
 "Who stuck a pin into you?" Jeffreys asked. 
 
 "Why, I'm billed for that entertainment to-night 
 myself and the mandolin!" 
 
 "Well, if that's so, old man, you'd better get a move 
 on!" Jeffreys assured. 
 
 But Bert was not listening to him. He had thrown 
 aside the instrument and was dragging out a dress 
 suit. 
 
 "If you will excuse me!' he panted. "Forgot all 
 about that affair. By Jove! what will they think of 
 me? And I told Starbright I'd be on hand to-night 
 on time or break something. Well, there, I've kept 
 my word ; for I've broken that button !" 
 
 Then Bert began to "pitch himself into his clothes" ... 
 in a hurried manner, talking all the time and bemoan- 4 
 ing the fate that made him so forgetful. When he 
 was dresseu. in what he considered a proper manner, 
 he had his friends "look him over" to see that he 
 was all there; bade them a hasty good night, and,
 
 i8o Dashleigh is Late Again. 
 
 with mandolin-case in hand, went out of the room like 
 a shot 
 
 Finding no carriage in waiting on Chapel Street, 
 or the neighborhood, he hurried on and was soon in a 
 car. Suddenly it occurred to him that he was some- 
 what hazy as to the street-number. He thought he 
 had written it down and had put it in his pocket, and 
 began to search for it, until he remembered that he 
 had just made a change of clothing. 
 
 "It was surely 113," he reflected. "Yes, that was 
 it" 
 
 So he alighted from the car in the neighborhood 
 of what he supposed was the right number, and, after 
 a search, approached a house which he had figured out 
 must be 113. To his amazement, it was wrapped in 
 darkness. Not a light gleamed in it. To make sure 
 that the house was 113, he entered the yard, and, 
 climbing up the steps, struck a match and looked at the 
 number. It was 113. 
 
 "Could it have been 131?" he asked himself, and 
 set out hastily for that number. 
 
 Having reached it, he stood on the street and lis- 
 tened There were lights in the house, but no sounds 
 of merriment, such as he fancied befitted such a gath- 
 ering as he expected to find. 
 
 "I'll bet my next month's allowance this isn't the 
 place!" he groaned; then climbed the steps and timidly 
 pulled the bell. 
 
 After a little wait the door was opened by a servant,
 
 Dashleigh is Late Again. 181 
 
 and in answer to his inquiry he was told that Mr. 
 Remy lived there, not Mrs. Whitlock. 
 
 "No, I can't tell you where the Whitlocks live/' was 
 the answer to his next question. "Perhaps they can 
 tell you at the store on the corner." 
 
 Dashleigh began to feel desperately uncomfortable. 
 Nevertheless, he sprinted with his mandolin across 
 to the store on the corner. 
 
 "Which Whitlock?" asked the proprietor, some- 
 what gruffly. 
 
 "Whitlock, of Whitney Avenue." 
 
 "Well, there are a lot of Whitlocks on Whitney 
 Avenue." 
 
 Seeing a New Haven directory, Bert pulled it down 
 and began feverishly to consult its pages. He stood 
 aghast. There surely were a "lot" of Whitlocks on 
 Whitney Avenue. He tried to recall the first name 
 of his hostess. 
 
 "Marcus, Marcellene, what in the deuce was it? 
 Seems to me it began with an M!" 
 
 But there were no Whitlocks on the avenue whose 
 first names began with M. He looked for 113, 131, 
 213, and 231, and everything else he could find with 
 the combinations of the figures i and 3. When he 
 had done this he consulted his watch. The time was 
 eight-thirty, and the dinner was to be given at eight. 
 
 "I'm up against it !" he groaned, while the perspira- 
 tion began to pour out on his face. "Mrs. Whitlock 
 told me personally that she wanted me to be there, 
 and it doesn't help the matter to think that she wanted
 
 1 8s Dashleigh is Late Again. 
 
 the mandolin worse than she did me. They depended 
 on me chiefly for their music, and here am I and the 
 mandolin lost in the deserts of New Haven, with not 
 an oasis in sight." 
 
 Then he attacked the directory again, emerging 
 from its pages more confused than ever. He even be- 
 gan to think that perhaps Mrs. Marcellene Whitlock 
 did not live on Whitney, but on some other thorough- 
 fare, which he had somehow got inexplicably mixed 
 with that of the well-known avenue. 
 
 "I'll begin to think soon that perhaps the name 
 wasn't Whitlock, and that mine isn't Dashleigh !" 
 
 He slammed down the directory and hurried into 
 the street. 
 
 Fortunately, he found a cab there. 
 
 "Take me to all the Whitlocks on Whitney 
 Avenue," he begged. "And be quick about it."
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 WHAT DASHLEIGH SAW. 
 
 The cab-driver stared. 
 
 "Well, it's this way, you see," Bert tarried to ex- 
 plain. "I'm overdue at some Mrs. Whitlock's Mrs. 
 Marcellene Whitlock's, I think for dinner this eve- 
 ning. Big feed and all that, you understand. I was 
 to have been there at eight sharp, and it's now hurry- 
 ing along toward nine. I don't know where they live 
 forgot the number and can't find it in the direc- 
 tory. The best way, I suppose, is to take them in turn 
 and chase the right one down in that way. Slow 
 process, but I don't know anything better." 
 
 The driver grinned. 
 
 "P'r'aps 'twasn't Whitlock !" he ventured. "I heard 
 that there was to be a big dinner at Mrs. Warlock's, 
 on Whitney Avenue, this evening." 
 
 "Warlock? Well, that may be the name. Hanged 
 if I know! Drive me to Mrs. Warlock's, as fast as 
 you can." 
 
 He tumbled himself and his mandolin into the 
 vehicle, and the driver springing to the box, they were 
 soon rattling away. 
 
 There was a "party" at Mrs. Warlock's; Bert could 
 not doubt that, for when he jumped out in front of the
 
 184 What Dashleigh Saw. 
 
 house he heard the unmistakable sounds of merriment 
 and music. 
 
 "Wait a minute!" he asked of the driver, and 
 darted up the steps. 
 
 In answer to his rather nervous ring, a white- 
 aproned servant appeared. 
 
 "Yes, we have a party here to-night," was the an- 
 swer to his question. 
 
 Bert felt so much better that he was about to pass 
 into the house, when the driver called to him: 
 
 "Forgot something, didn't you?" 
 
 Bert reddened again; and, dropping his mandolin 
 on the steps, rushed down to the street and paid for 
 the use of the cab. Then he tore up the steps again, 
 and, hurrying past the wondering servant, left his 
 coat and hat and mandolin in the hall, and, without 
 further questions, strode into what he took to be the 
 dining-room. 
 
 He stopped on the threshold in amazement. Some 
 couples were on the floor dancing. But they were all 
 strangers to him. Not a face there had he ever seen 
 before. The hostess came forward with a gracious 
 smile. 
 
 "I guess I have made a mistake," Bert stammered. 
 "I am due at a dinner-party at Mrs. Whitlock's." 
 
 "This is Mrs. Warlock's." 
 
 "Yes, yes, I know; but I I " 
 
 He was retreating, covered with confusion. 
 
 "I beg your pardon !" he managed to stammer, thea
 
 What Dashleigh Saw. 185 
 
 dived for the outer air, picking up his hat, coat, and 
 mandolin as he ran. 
 
 The cab was a third of a block away, but it stopped 
 in answer to the bellowing hail which he gave as he 
 jumped down the steps, and turned round and drove 
 back. 
 
 "Wasn't the place!" said Bert, in some confusion, 
 as he met the cab. "We'll have to make another try. 
 It was a Whitney no, I mean a Whitlock where the 
 party is that I am trying to reach. That was War- 
 lock's." 
 
 "I told you it was Warlock's." 
 
 "I know you did. Take me to a Whitney Avenue 
 of Whitlocks, I mean to a Whitlock's of Whitney 
 Avenue." 
 
 He looked at his watch again and saw that the hour 
 was nearly nine. 
 
 "Heavens! I won't dare to tell Dick of this!" he 
 thought, as he again stowed himself in the cab. 
 
 The driver took Bert to the first Whitlock's of that 
 avenue, and it was not the place. 
 
 "Go right ahead," Bert commanded, as he descended 
 from his fruitless search. "We've got to find that old 
 number, if it's in New Haven. I'm going to swear 
 off on accepting invitations for myself and the man- 
 dolin after this." 
 
 The cab tore away again, finally stopping in front 
 of a house which Bert felt sure could not be the place. 
 
 "Yes, it must be," he thought, "for there goes 
 Amos Belton, of the juniors."
 
 1 86 What Dashleigh Saw. 
 
 A dark-complexioned man, who looked young and 
 springy as he mounted the steps, had drawn Bert's 
 attention. 
 
 "Just wait a minute till I know that I'm right," Bert 
 begged of the driver, for he had learned caution. "I'll 
 be down in a minute, whether it's right or wrong!" 
 
 Then he made a dash for the house that he hoped 
 was Mrs. Marcellene Whitlock's. 
 
 The young man whom he took to be Amos Belton 
 disappeared in the building; and Bert, following 
 closely after him, gave the bell a tug. 
 
 It was evidently out of repair, for no ring could 
 be heard. Time was too precious to wait long in un- 
 certainty, and when no one appeared in answer to his 
 rap, he pushed open the door and looked in. 
 
 He saw a light in a room at the farther end of a 
 long hall; and, thinking to gain information, if noth- 
 ing else, Bert put down his mandolin and advanced 
 toward the illumination. As he walked along the 
 carpeted hall, his feet making little noise, he reached 
 a point which enabled him to see a large part of the 
 interior of the room. 
 
 He stopped in bewildered surprise. In the room 
 was one whom at first sight he took to be Inza Bur- 
 rage. In a bewildering way there came to him a 
 memory of some talk he had heard that Amos Belton, 
 the junior, was madly in love with Miss Burrage. 
 Then it occurred to him that this must be Mrs. Whit- 
 lock's, and that Inza was one of the guests. Perhaps 
 Merriwell was there?
 
 What Dashleigh Saw. 187 
 
 He was about to advance and speak, when the per- 
 son whom he took to be Inza turned round from the 
 mirror, and he had a good look at the face. It was 
 surprisingly like Inza's, so much so that at first he 
 was sure it was Inza ; but he saw a moment later that, 
 while the face looked so much like that of Miss Bur- 
 rage, there was a distinct difference. It was as if some 
 girl had tried to "make up" to look like Inza. 
 
 Then his bewilderment increased, for it came to him 
 that the face on which he was looking was that of the 
 young man who had inquired of him and Ready in the 
 suburbs that afternoon when the hockey-match was 
 to be held. 
 
 "It can't be, though!" Bert gasped, beginning to 
 feel that he must be dreaming. "Perhaps this is the 
 fellow's sister. Yes, chat must be it." 
 
 He had unintentionally made a noise, whereupon 
 the girl if it was a girl turned, saw him in the hall, 
 and, immediately drawing back, disappeared. 
 
 A moment later he heard voices; then all was still. 
 
 "I guess I've lost my head completely this evening!" 
 thought the astounded freshman. "Anyway, this isn't 
 Mrs. Whitlock's; and, as no one has hurried to give 
 me the glad hand, I'll get out as quickly as I can." 
 
 His watch told him that it was after nine when h^ 
 again reached the street, where he found the cabman 
 patiently awaiting his return. 
 
 "Wrong place again?" questioned cabbie. 
 
 "Yes. Make another try!"
 
 1 88 What Dashleigh Saw. 
 
 Again the cab containing Bert and his mandolin 
 rattled away. 
 
 "I'll be arrested soon as a lunatic or dangerous per- 
 son!" he groaned. "Makes me want to go home and 
 manufacture some lie that will let me out of the thing 
 easily. I might say that I had a touch of fever or 
 something. Well, I'm in a pretty pickle ! And who in 
 thunder could that have been? That couldn't have 
 been Inza, and it couldn't have been the fellow that 
 Ready and I saw this afternoon. I shall have to tell 
 Ready about that." 
 
 Two other houses which the driver said were oc- 
 cupied by Whitlocks were visited. At the last of these 
 unhappy Bert secured a clue. 
 
 "Perhaps you are looking for the people who moved 
 into 141," suggested the lady of the house. "I think 
 that's the name Whitlock, and as I came by there 
 this evening I heard sounds which indicated that they 
 were having some kind of a party." 
 
 "Just moved in?" Bert gasped. "Then that's it. 
 That's the reason I couldn't find the name in the 
 directory." 
 
 Then he made another dive for the cab, asking him- 
 self why folks who had just moved into a new neigh- 
 borhood didn't say so on their cards, or in some other 
 manner notify people. 
 
 "No. 141," he said to the jehu. "We'll try that; 
 and, if we don't dig up the right place this time, we'll 
 give it up as a bad job." 
 
 But it was the right place; and, although he was
 
 What Dashleigh Saw. 189 
 
 "desperately late," as he admitted, he was graciously 
 received. After he had feasted as well as could be ex- 
 pected at that late hour, he found that there was still 
 an hour or more in which he and his mandolin would 
 be very welcome. 
 
 When Bert reached his room that night he found 
 Dick Starbright just turning in, and he hastily told 
 his chum his story, for he had decided that he must 
 ask him what he thought of the counterpart of Inza 
 Burrage he had beheld in that house on Whitney 
 Avenue. 
 
 "I knew you'd be late," said Starbright. "You al- 
 ways are." 
 
 "But I wouldn't have been if I hadn't forgotten the 
 number," Bert insisted. "But I don't want a sermon; 
 I want to know what you think about that young 
 woman who looked so much like Inza Burrage that at 
 first I could have sworn it was she?" 
 
 Dick sat down and deliberately looked his chum 
 over. 
 
 "You haven't been drinking?" 
 
 "Honor bright, not a thing, except a glass of wine 
 at Mrs. Whitlock's. But I hadn't even smelled the 
 wine when I saw that girl." 
 
 "I shouldn't think anything about it if it hadn't been 
 for Amos Belton," declared the big freshman. "His 
 presence there makes the thing a mystery to me, 
 though, of course, there is no mystery in it. Perhaps 
 he called on some young lady there who remarkably
 
 190 What Dashleigh Saw. 
 
 resembles Inza Bur rage. You say yourself it was not 
 Inza Burrage, but only looked like her." 
 
 "That doesn't explain anything." 
 
 "No, perhaps not. But, as you know, it's been re- 
 ported that he is wildly in love with Inza. She doesn't 
 care anything for him, of course, for she's crazy about 
 Merriwell." 
 
 "Lucky dog, too!" nodded Bert. 
 
 "Yes, that's what I think myself. Well, now, does 
 it strike you as possible that Belton, being unable to 
 get any encouragement from Inza, may have turned 
 to this girl, who looks so much like her ? Seems to me 
 there may be your explanation." 
 
 "But what made them disappear so strangely when 
 she discovered me?" 
 
 "You scared her, probably," grinned Dick. "Per- 
 haps she took you for a burglar. I've an idea that 
 you looked rather wild-eyed about that time. You 
 were excited, and, no doubt, your face showed it. 
 Seeing a man standing in the hall, which she supposed 
 unoccupied, she was naturally frightened. Any girl 
 would have been." 
 
 "But what became of Belton?" 
 
 "Well, now, ask me something easy. How do I 
 know?" 
 
 Dashleigh sat down in a chair. He was not sat- 
 isfied. 
 
 "I heard the other day that Belton is soon to quit 
 Yale," Dick volunteered. 
 
 "That doesn't explain anything!"
 
 What Dashleigh Saw. 191 
 
 "Who said it did ? I merely made the remark. He 
 has fallen so low in his exams that he can go no 
 farther. Seems to me that was what I heard. Either 
 that or money matters forces him out of Yale. But 
 probably it isn't money matters, for he could find 
 something to do to keep himself up." 
 
 "Yes, if he was willing to work like a horse and 
 live like a hermit. That's about the only way for a 
 fellow to go through Yale, or any other college, with- 
 out money." 
 
 "And wasn't it Horace Greeley who said that if a 
 man is to succeed in anything he must live like a her- 
 mit and work like a horse? Anyway, he said some- 
 thing like that." 
 
 "Belton is from the South, isn't he?" Dashleigh 
 asked. "Scarcely probable he'd work like a horse to 
 get through college." 
 
 "From Washington, I think. Do you know, that 
 fellow looks almost like a negro to me. I don't won- 
 der that Inza Burrage has never given him any en- 
 couragement." 
 
 "I believe you're getting struck in that direction 
 yourself," Dashleigh laughed. 
 
 Starbright flushed and looked uncomfortable. 
 
 "You're off ! But there aren't many nicer girls than 
 Inza." 
 
 When Dashleigh fell asleep, his dreams placed him 
 in a cab, in which, throughout the remainder of the 
 night, he pursued Mrs. Whitlock, of Whitney Avenue, 
 with the relentlessness of a detective, suddenly to find
 
 192 What Dashleigh Saw. 
 
 her standing before him in the person of his instructor 
 in mathematics, who naively assured him that what 
 he had really been searching for was the elusive. 
 
 "Get up!" came in the voice of Dick Starbright. 
 "You're flouncing there like a fish." 
 
 "Is it morning?" Bert asked, suddenly rousing. 
 
 "Yes, and a beautiful day. A better one for that 
 hockey-match this afternoon couldn't have been made 
 to order 1"
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 FRANK MERRIWELI/S DILEMMA. 
 
 When Starbright and Dashleigh appeared on the 
 campus they were greeted with a sensation. Dion San- 
 tenel was no longer a prisoner. He had escaped from 
 the jail t-.e previous evening. 
 
 Merriwell, Browning, and Hodge were talking 
 about it over by the senior fence ; and though the mass 
 of the students had no knowledge that Dade Morgan 
 was in any way connected with the man who had been 
 placed in jail by Merriwell, the escape of the prisoner 
 was being discussed by little knots of Yale men gath- 
 ered here and there. 
 
 "Will it interfere with the hockey-match this after- 
 noon?" Bert asked. 
 
 "I don't see why it should," was the answer of the 
 student of whom Bert had inquired. 
 
 "On account of Merriwell." 
 
 "Oh, yes; I forgot that you're one of the fellows 
 who think the sun can't rise of mornings unless Frank 
 Merriwell pries it up with a lever. That hockey-match 
 can be played without Merriwell!" 
 
 "You're joining the Chickering set!" said Bert. 
 
 "Oh, no! Only I happen not to be insane over 
 Merriwell!" 
 
 There were others who asked themselves and their
 
 194 Frank Merriwell's Dilemma. 
 
 acquaintances that question, but all conjecture was set 
 at rest by an announcement from Frank that the game 
 would be played. 
 
 When Frank returned to his room he found Dade 
 Morgan awaiting him in the corridor. 
 
 "I thought I'd like to have a few words with you," 
 said Morgan. 
 
 Frank showed him into his apartments. 
 
 "I didn't know how you might feel?" Morgan 
 queried. 
 
 "I don't know that I understand you?" 
 
 "About the hockey-match." 
 
 "It is to be played this afternoon on Lake Whitney. 
 The ice is being cleared of the snow now for the 
 game." 
 
 "Yes, I knew that. But I wanted to know if you'd 
 be willing for me to play. I'm down as one of the op- 
 position players, you know, and after what has hap- 
 pened I didn't know how you might feel. I'd like to 
 play in that match, but " 
 
 Morgan's manner was subdued and almost penitent. 
 
 "I have had no thought of objecting to your play- 
 ing in that match, Morgan. I've been wondering, 
 though, how much you know about that escape of 
 Santenel." 
 
 "No more than you do," Morgan declared. "I was 
 afraid you might think I had a hand in that, though 
 you'll see that I couldn't." 
 
 "Some one got a file to him, and he cut through the 
 bars," said Frank, watching Dade closely. "He es-
 
 Frank Merriwell's Dilemma. 195 
 
 caped early last evening. No one seems to know how 
 he secured the file, and some of the prison officials 
 affect to believe that he had it concealed about him 
 when he was put in jail. Any way, he is out. If he'll 
 steer clear of New Haven and let me and my father 
 alone hereafter, I shall not care much. You don't 
 know anything about it?" 
 
 "Not a thing." 
 
 "You've asked me about the hockey-match. I'll say 
 this : It won't be healthy for you to attempt any un- 
 derhanded work in that game. I shall discover it if 
 you do." 
 
 Morgan began a protest. 
 
 "Ever since I've known that you and Santenel were 
 connected, I've been in a dilemma," Frank went on. 
 "You understand what I mean." 
 
 "I've cut loose from all that, Merriwell. I don't 
 expect you to believe me until you've had the proof. 
 But I've cut loose from work of the kind you com- 
 plain against." 
 
 "If you had any hand in helping Santenel to escape, 
 I shall discover it by and by. I'm talking plain to 
 you, Morgan. It's not my style to beat around the 
 bush in a matter like this. You have tried your best 
 to injure me here at Yale. I haven't forgotten it, and 
 I'm not likely to. I have, as I told you, proofs enough 
 to force you out of Yale. Perhaps I shall use them. 
 If I find that you had a hand in that escape, I shall cer- 
 tainly use them." 
 
 "Just give me time to show you that I'm all right,"
 
 196 Frank Merriwell's Dilemma. 
 
 Dade begged. "I'm going to play fair hereafter. By 
 that I don't mean that I've any notion of joining your 
 flock." 
 
 "No one joins that who isn't invited." 
 
 Dade flushed. 
 
 "What I meant was that I can't expect to become 
 your warm friend and supporter right off. I shall 
 retain the privilege of kicking against things you do, 
 and of working against you in an honorable manner. 
 But I have cut loose from everything else. I'll prove 
 it in time; and as for that game this afternoon, I'll 
 promise you that you won't have a man on your team 
 who will fight harder to win." 
 
 "You're a star in athletics, Morgan. For that rea- 
 son alone I have put you on various teams. But I 
 have never trusted you, and I do not trust you now. 
 So you may look out, for I shall be watching you." 
 
 Dade was rather pale as he went down from Van- 
 derbilt. - He realized that he had never been in quite so 
 close and ticklish a place. One false step might hurl 
 him out of Yale in disgrace. 
 
 "You bet I'll play fair this afternoon," he thought. 
 "It stands me in hand to play fair just now, and I'm 
 the boy to do it when it's necessary. But I wonder 
 how Santenel got out and what's become of him? 
 He'll hang round New Haven, no doubt." 
 
 So strong was this feeling on Dade that he almost 
 expected to see Santenel crouching over the fire in 
 the grate when he returned to his room, but the hyp- 
 notist was not there.
 
 Frank Merriwell's Dilemma. 197 
 
 Hodge passed Morgan on the stairs as the latter was 
 descending, and entered Frank's room with a dis- 
 pleased look. 
 
 "I wouldn't trust that fellow an inch 1" he growled. 
 
 "I'm not trusting him," said Frank. "I'm merely 
 watching him." 
 
 "Of course. I've protested so much that you're not 
 likely to listen to anything I say," Hodge grumbled. 
 "But I wouldn't even permit the scoundrel to come 
 into these rooms. He'd do anything. When I come 
 in here and know that he has just left you I find my- 
 self looking round in search of an infernal machine 
 or something of the kind. That fellow has no more 
 honor than a rattlesnake." 
 
 "I'm not trusting him," Frank repeated quietly. 
 
 "Yet you will let him play on that opposition team 
 this afternoon. You haven't said so to me, but I 
 know that you will do it, simply because he is a good 
 player." 
 
 "I have no right to say who shall be on the other 
 team. Then, I've another reason, Bart," Frank ex- 
 plained. "I can watch him better while he is there 
 than if he were somewhere else. I am sure he will 
 not try to do anything risky, for he knows that he dare 
 not. I've told him just how the land lays, and, under- 
 standing that, he will hold himself in. I shall take 
 steps which I hope will bring about the recapture of 
 Santenel. Dirk is working on the case. The police 
 officials feel chagrined, and they will do all they can."
 
 198 Frank Merriwell's Dilemma. 
 
 "And of course you'll let Morgan remain in Yale?" 
 said Bart, with curling lips. 
 
 "I don't know. I'm in a dilemma about it. You 
 see, it is this way: Morgan is such a capable fellow 
 that if he could be brought round right, he would 
 make a man worthy of Yale. With, possibly, the ex- 
 ception of Starbright, he is the most promising fresh- 
 man here. If I'm lenient with him, it may bring him 
 to realize just how he stands. He may turn short 
 about and make a man of himself. While, on the 
 other hand, if I should brand him with the disgrace of 
 an expulsion from the college, he might go headlong 
 to the bad. That's what makes me hesitate. I'd like 
 to give him a chance to become something more than 
 a brilliant villain." 
 
 "Well, he will never be anything else." 
 
 Hodge had been quite mild in his protest against 
 Morgan, but he said this last very positively. When 
 he was gone Merriwell sat for a long time thinking. 
 Usually he could not agree with Hodge in such mat- 
 ters; but he was not sure that in this instance Hodge 
 was not right. 
 
 "I'll give Morgan a chance, any way !" was his con- 
 clusion. "I'll let him play in that match, and I'll watch 
 him."
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OLD FRIENDS. 
 
 A large crowd hastened out to Lake Whitney that 
 afternoon to witness the match between the two Yale 
 sevens. 
 
 The snowfall had spoiled the ice for skating, but 
 a space sufficiently large for an ice-hockey match had 
 been cleared of the snow, revealing a surface to please 
 the eye of the most critical hockey-player. 
 
 Not only was Yale well represented, but a number 
 of New Haven people added their presence to the 
 crowd, being anxious to see the playing, chiefly because 
 Merriwell was on one of the teams. 
 
 Frank Merriwell and Inza Burrage drove out. 
 They had been much together recently, but Inza was 
 to leave New Haven that night for an indefinite ab- 
 sence. 
 
 As Frank descended from the carriage and assisted 
 Inza to alight, a sleigh, the only one there, came up 
 with the horse at a dead run. Out of the sleigh pro- 
 ceeded a roar, and tumbling out after the roar fell Bink 
 Stubbs and Danny Griswold. 
 
 "Whoop !" squealed Danny, making a dive for Mer- 
 riwell. 
 
 "Wow !" squeaked Bink, diving after his chum. 
 
 Ready puffed out his cheeks and leaped toward them 
 with the "glad hand." Dozens of others appeared tc
 
 2oo Old Friends. 
 
 forget all about ice-hockey and gravitated toward the 
 two little fellows, who were now hopping up and down, 
 chattering out their delight and shaking hands with 
 every one who came forward. 
 
 "We were afraid we wouldn't be in time," Danny 
 explained. "Bink came up with me on the train this 
 afternoon " 
 
 "Don't believe him, gentlemen !" Bink begged. "He 
 came up with me. Why, you don't suppose I'd be 
 caught dead chasing that thing around, do you? If 
 he hadn't come up with me " 
 
 "You mean if you hadn't come up with me!" 
 
 "If you hadn't come up with each other?" Merri- 
 well put in. 
 
 "Why, we wouldn't be here, of course. Say, Ready, 
 heard the last joke on Danny?" 
 
 Bink turned to his old friend. 
 
 "I never expect to hear the last," Ready averred. 
 
 "It's fortunate that Ready knows what a liar you 
 are!" Danny said. 
 
 "We were coming by the gym when Danny saw a 
 man buying some lunch out of that old lunch-cart sta- 
 tioned there, 'Say,' he whispered, and he took hold 
 of my arm as solemnly as an astronomer announcing 
 the discovery of a new comet, 'I've discovered some- 
 thing! I know what they mean now when they talk 
 about dinner a la carte.' And, gentlemen, if you'll be- 
 lieve me, the ignoramus meant it." 
 
 "When it comes to lying, you're like the moon," 
 Danny declared. "Nothing on earth can touch you."
 
 Old Friends. 201 
 
 "Oh, yes, I'm a warm baby, but not so warm as you 
 were the other evening when you were singing *A 
 Hot Time.' " 
 
 "Rats! I never sing it." 
 
 "Don't you remember when those boys heated that 
 old watch and laid it nicely down on the pavement, and 
 you picked it up, thinking you'd struck a find?" 
 
 "Well, I didn't sing 'A Hot Time.' I simply re- 
 marked that all the hot springs were not in Arkansas, 
 Now, you slanderer, I'll make it cool for you!" 
 
 He grabbed an armful of snow and dashed it into 
 Bink's face. 
 
 " 'And I'll follow suit,' as the Jew said when he be- 
 gan to chase the stolen clothing down the street." 
 
 They were at it, and for a little while there was a 
 whirling mass of snow, arms, and legs, with a head 
 bobbing out now and then. Ready stood by and se- 
 renely whooped his encouragement. 
 
 "It seems good to have the little idiots back again/' 
 Jack remarked to Merriwell. 
 
 "Idiots?" 
 
 "That's my pet name for them. Yale has seemed 
 lonesome, somehow, without them." 
 
 The pair of snow images into which Bink and Danny 
 were transformed had ceased fighting and were again 
 joking. Danny came over to Inza and again shook 
 her hand. 
 
 "Bink is staying in New York now, you know. 
 You haven't any idea of how foolish and sentimental 
 he has become. Why, he's actually fallen in love with
 
 2O2 Old Friends. 
 
 an heiress down there. The other day he went to the 
 father of his honeysuckle and asked the old gent for 
 the hand of his daughter." 
 
 "Of course he instantly consented," was Inza's smi- 
 ling comment. 
 
 "Well, he wasn't in a hurry, and I don't think he'll 
 give his consent now. He told Bink that before he 
 answered his question he'd like to know a little more 
 about him, and asked him what was his station. And 
 will you believe it, the idiot said that he usually got off 
 at Hyde Park!" 
 
 "You'll get off the earth in a little while 1" Bink 
 squeaked, catching the last words. 
 
 "We'll have to get into the hockey-match," said 
 Frank, looking at his watch. "We're nearly an hour 
 late." 
 
 The teams were taking their places on the ice amid 
 the hand-clappings of their supporters. They were 
 merely individual teams, one led by Merriwell, the 
 other by Beckwith, the big guard of the football 
 eleven. The names and the positions occupied were 
 as follows: 
 
 MERRIWELL'S. POSITION. BECKWITH'S. 
 
 Browning Goal Beckwith. 
 
 Carson Point Harlan. 
 
 Dashleigh Cover-point Bingham. 
 
 Starbright Forward Ned Silver. 
 
 Ready Forward Roll Packard. 
 
 Hodge Forward Defarge. 
 
 Merriwell Forward Morgan. 
 
 "I'd like to play that game," cried Danny, waving 
 his short arms encouragingly.
 
 Old Friends. 203 
 
 "You'd hoodoo the whole thing," was Bink's un- 
 charitable answer. 
 
 "Hood-doo it?" Ready mildly asked, as he struck 
 at an imaginary puck. 
 
 "They're doing it !" Bink shrieked. "See that drive ! 
 Oh, Sally!" 
 
 The puck had been "faced" in the center of the field 
 between the sticks of Merriwell and Morgan, the 
 referee had uttered the word "Play!" and Morgan 
 scooped the puck back to one of his men with a dex- 
 terous movement that caused Bink to yell. 
 
 The smile appeared on Dade's face. Since his last 
 severe defeat by Merriwell he had almost forgotten 
 the winning smile that he sought always to wear; but 
 it came back now. 
 
 "Oh, say, that fellow's a wonder! Did you see 
 that?" Bink demanded. 
 
 "I see that you're a fool!" Danny snarled. "Just 
 wait till Merriwell gets into gear. I think he could 
 have prevented that." 
 
 "Oh, that's the way with you fellows, always!" 
 sneered Gene Skelding, who chanced to be standing 
 by. "Whenever Merriwell wins, it's an indication that 
 he's the greatest player in the world; and when he 
 loses it is because he is so generous that he does not 
 wish to hurt the feelings of an opponent by defeating 
 him." 
 
 The little fellows turned on Skelding with flashing 
 eyes.
 
 204 Old Friends. 
 
 "Oh, don't fight!" Inza smilingly begged. "You'll 
 miss some interesting playing while you're at it" 
 
 "It's a good thing you interfered," said Bink, speak- 
 ing to her a moment after. "We'd have eaten the fel- 
 low up." 
 
 "I knew it, and so I interfered. I was like the little 
 boy who ate up the piece of pie belonging to his little 
 brother." 
 
 She smiled sweetly. Bink stared. 
 
 "How was that ?" 
 
 "I took the weaker one's part." 
 
 Bink fell over gurgling in the snow, and Danny 
 gave him a kick to "drive some sense into him," as he 
 said. 
 
 "You're missing it all," Inza urged. 
 
 "And we came down from New York on purpose to 
 see this great and glorious game!" 
 
 Bink would have tackled Danny, but the cheering of 
 the spectators warned him that he was indeed losing 
 some good playing. 
 
 Beckwith's forwards had the puck and were forcing 
 it toward Merriwell's goal. Silver pushed it to Pack- 
 ard and Packard to Defarge, and the latter drove it 
 toward Merriwell's flags. 
 
 "Stop it ! Stop it !" Danny yelled. 
 
 "Oh, he's doing it!" shrieked Bink. "That's right, 
 Browning, old boy! Drive it back!" 
 
 Browning was a capital goal-keeper. He not only 
 blocked Defarge's play, but he sent the puck skipping
 
 Old Friends. 205 
 
 back along the ice toward the goal of the opposing 
 team. 
 
 There were yells of "off-side," from the spectators 
 as the members of the opposing teams came together, 
 but the play went on. 
 
 Silver tried to carom the puck against a board at the 
 side of the natural rink, and so shoot it toward Mer- 
 riwell's goal, Merriwell being in front of him; but 
 Merriwell's stick caught it, deviated it, and sent it be- 
 tween the goal-posts of his opponents. 
 
 The puck was again faced in the center of the field 
 between the sticks of Morgan and Merriwell. Bade 
 had secured it before, and he was alertly watchful for 
 this advantage again. 
 
 Morgan was a handsome fellow, and as he and 
 Frank stood in position for the beginning of the play 
 their pose was worthy of the genius of a sculptor. 
 There was a silence, broken by the "Play!" of the 
 referee. 
 
 Morgan scooped at the puck as he had done before, 
 but to his surprise he found his quickest movement 
 too slow. The puck was moved by Merriwell's stick 
 and shot across the ice. 
 
 Packard stopped it and sent it flying back, where it 
 was caught by the stick of Jack Ready, who dribbled it 
 forward, skating easily and gracefully ; then, seeing it 
 was in danger of being taken from him, he managed 
 to pass it to Merriwell. Starbright was in a better 
 position than Merriwell to receive it, but to have sent 
 it to Starbright would have put Merriwell off-side, and
 
 206 Old Friends. 
 
 Ready believed that Merriwell could handle it better 
 than any one else. 
 
 The result justified his judgment, for Merriwell 
 promptly drove the puck between Beckwith's goal- 
 posts, and another score was added to his side. 
 
 "Second blood for Merriwell!" shrieked Bink, 
 throwing up his cap and catching it on his head. "I'm 
 betting my little wad on Merriwell !" 
 
 " 'Rah for Merriwell !" Danny squealed. 
 
 The play was on again, and Merriwell's team was 
 working for another drive. Frank had selected and 
 disposed his men to the best advantage, as was shown 
 by their playing. But it was quickly seen that Beck- 
 with had been equally clever, and that he had in his 
 team some of the very best hockey timber in the col- 
 lege. Morgan was a veritable wonder on skates. 
 
 Though Starbright on a previous occasion had 
 beaten Morgan in a race on skates, thus proving him- 
 self the faster skater, he was not as nimble and sinuous 
 as Morgan, who seemed to have the twisting powers 
 of an eel and the quickness of a wildcat. 
 
 And Morgan was playing for all that was in him. 
 He was playing fair, too, for he knew that Merri- 
 well was watching him. He had greatly feared that 
 Frank would object to his continuance on Beckwith's 
 team. Now he was setting himself to do two things : 
 To prove his superiority as a hockey-player and thus 
 endeavor to recover whatever ground he had lost in 
 the estimation of the freshmen, and to show Merriwell 
 that he had entered on a course of square dealing.
 
 Old Friends. 207 
 
 Morgan was the real leader of the Beckwith team, 
 even though Beckwith had made up the team and was 
 nominally its captain. Every one soon saw this, even 
 Beckwith himself. But Beckwith was a big, generous 
 fellow, who did not care where the honor went so long 
 as his team made a good showing, and possibly man- 
 aged to win the game. 
 
 Now, getting possession of the puck, Morgan, as- 
 sisted by the other forwards, pushed it down the ice, 
 and, in spite of the exertions of Merriwell's men, shot 
 it safely for goal. 
 
 The play was renewed, and within two minutes this 
 was repeated. 
 
 "Hold 'em! Hold 'em!" Bink and Danny were bel- 
 lowing to Bruce. "Oh, thou lazy giant, hold 'em!" 
 
 The fight was on again, with the puck once more 
 going toward Merriwell's goal. Some enthusiastic 
 Morganites began to bellow: 
 
 "Morgan, Morgan, you are true ! 
 You're an honor to the Blue! 
 
 Make a dive 
 
 And let her drive, 
 We will pin our faith to you. 
 
 "On your team is Silver, white, 
 And old Beck, so golden bright. 
 
 Bingham true, 
 
 And Harlan, too ! 
 Hold 'em down, and make 'em fight 
 
 "Defarge, Packard, paste away! 
 If the Merrys get too gay, 
 You've the team, 
 To make them dream ! 
 You can show them how to play."
 
 2o8 Old Friends. 
 
 The playing became so brilliant that the most sated 
 Yale man was awakened to active interest, and soon 
 found himself yelling like mad for the side he favored. 
 
 Morgan secured the puck. 
 
 Biff! 
 
 It flew toward Merriwell's goal, but Browning, the 
 goal-keeper, cleverly stopped it. Merriwell's stick 
 caught it up and it went sailing toward the opposite 
 end of the ice. The forwards tried to get it as it 
 whizzed past them. The cover-point and cover tried 
 to stop it. But it did not get between the goal-posts, 
 for Beckwith was there Beckwith, who as a goal- 
 keeper was a match for any goal-keeper in Yale, not 
 excepting big Bruce Browning. 
 
 The puck skipped to the middle of the cleared space, 
 and another fight took place for its possession. 
 
 Suddenly Morgan was declared off-side in a play, 
 and the puck was taken back to the center of the rink, 
 where it was faced again for a renewal of the game. 
 
 The off-side play had been unintentional on Mor- 
 gan's part, due to excitement ; but his dark face flamed, 
 nevertheless, for he had lost an advantage, and he 
 fancied that Merriwell would believe he had been try- 
 ing trickery. Then the game again raged. 
 
 Again Merriwell drove the puck toward Beckwith's 
 goal ; but it was stopped by Ned Silver, who, in trying 
 to send it back, made a quick play which merely skipped 
 the puck off the cleared ice. There was a little delay 
 while it was brought on; then the fight for a goal 
 recommenced.
 
 Old Friends. 209 
 
 The puck came once more beneath Merriwell's stick. 
 
 "Now, drive it!" yelled Bink, who, with Danny, had 
 been hopping about through it all in the greatest ex- 
 citement. 
 
 "Drive it!" squealed Danny. 
 
 Merriwell drove it straight as an arrow between the 
 goal-posts of his opponents; and the score became 
 three for the Merriwells, with two for Beckwith's 
 men. 
 
 "That's right !" Bink piped. "If you'll just obey the 
 orders of your uncle, you'll always do the right thing !" 
 
 When the play was resumed Beckwith's team began 
 again their tactics of rushing the puck headlong, and 
 with volcanic energy, toward Merriwell's goal. They 
 came near making a goal in less than a minute, too; 
 for Dashleigh, who had been doing excellent work, 
 slipped in, making a quick turn to drive, and, falling 
 headlong on the ice, left the puck uncovered for a mo- 
 ment. Defarge skated in with lightning speed, and, 
 taking the puck, drove and dribbled it toward Merri- 
 well's goal. 
 
 He tried to send it through between the goal-posts, 
 but Starbright blocked it, and sent it flying back. 
 
 "Hooray!" yelled Bink, for he thought Starbright 
 had made a goal. 
 
 But Beckwith had stopped the play; and Morgan 
 now drove the puck between the Merriwell flags, and 
 the score was tied. 
 
 The whistle of the timekeeper sounded. The first 
 half of the game had come to an end.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 HOT WORK. 
 
 Bink and Danny locked arms at the conclusion of 
 the first half of the game and walked up and down 
 like crowing bantam roosters, bellowing college songs, 
 in which the name of Merriwell figured largely. 
 
 "What are you bawling about?" Defarge demanded. 
 "Your favorites haven't won the game. You've heard 
 of the fools who 'hollered' before they were out of 
 the woods?" 
 
 "Oh, go use some salt!" Danny flung back at him. 
 
 "What in the dickens did you mean by that?" Bink 
 asked, when an opportunity offered. "Use some salt !" 
 
 "I meant for him to get off the ice," Danny 
 chuckled. "Salt or ashes, either one. I simply hap- 
 pened to think of salt first." 
 
 Then the two marched on, singing: 
 
 "Oh, our Merry is the lad, boys ! 
 Rally round him true! 
 Beating the battle-drum of Eli. 
 He's the best that Yale has had, boys, 
 Rally round him, do! 
 You'll never see another at Old Eli. 
 
 "Oh, Merry forever, 
 
 Hurrah, boys ! hurrah ! 
 Oh, Merry forever, 
 
 The king without a flawl 
 Well sing his praises true, boys, 
 For the honor of the Blue ! 
 For Merriwell, the glory of Old Eli!"
 
 Hot Work. 211 
 
 The teams again went on the cleared space, the puck 
 was faced, and the referee sharply called "Play!" 
 
 Again, as in the beginning, Morgan secured the first 
 scoop of the puck. He sent it toward Merri well's goal- 
 posts and the Beckwith team again tried to rush it on. 
 
 Browning was in place, blocked it with his feet, and 
 skipped it off to one side. But it was in position for 
 another drive at Merriwell's goal in a surprisingly 
 short time. Starbright tried to get it, but Packard 
 drove it past him, making a perilous lunge that came 
 near pitching him on the ice. But Hodge's stick caught 
 the puck, cracked heavily against it, and the two teams 
 rushing after it, the fight for its possession raged at 
 the other end of the surface. 
 
 Then Merriwell secured the puck, shooting it back 
 to Ready, who boastingly claimed that he was always 
 "Ready" for anything. Jack proved his worthiness 
 of the name and drove the bit of rubber between Beck- 
 with's flags. 
 
 Morgan was determined to win the game from Mer- 
 riwell, and when he and Frank again faced each other 
 with the puck between their sticks, awaiting the word 
 of the referee, this determination was increased by 
 the fact that Merriwell's team was now one goal ahead. 
 
 But in spite of his determination, Merriwell's stick 
 was the first to move the puck. But he could not drive 
 it for goal. It went down to Bingham, the opposing 
 cover-point, who whirled it back. Then Hodge's stick 
 cracked against it, and it skipped once more toward
 
 212 Hot Work. 
 
 Beckwith's goal-line. Harlan stopped it here, and an 
 exciting scrimmage occurred. 
 
 Out of the welter it flew back toward Merriwell's 
 goal, against the stick of Harlan, who began to dribble 
 it down the ice. Fearing to lose it, he sent it back to 
 Bingham, who shot it to one side to Ned Silver, who 
 drove it, amid cries of "off-side," for Merriwell's goal. 
 
 Carson and Browning both tried to stop it, but they 
 failed. Another goal was added to Beckwith's side, 
 and the score stood four to four. 
 
 "Oh, this isn't easy work!" squealed Bink. "This 
 is the kind of playing that turns a fellow's heart into a 
 force-pump !" 
 
 "Hang it! I'd hate to have Merry beaten after all 
 our howling," Danny grumbled. 
 
 "You base skeptic!" said Inza, turning on him. 
 "Doubters have no place in Merriwell's camp !" 
 
 "I ain't 'doubtin' him,' as the old country woman 
 said when told that her husband was having an awful 
 fight with a bear. 'I ain't doubtin' him a mite; but 
 I'm kinder oneasy !' ' 
 
 Morgan was fighting now with great coolness, but 
 with a sort of fierceness under it all that was wonderful 
 to see. He was marvelously skilful He was as quick 
 as lightning, and as he was able to skate fast or slow, 
 he was not easily thrown off his feet by the body- 
 checking, blocking, and interference of an opponent. 
 
 He could dodge and twist as cleverly as Merriwell 
 himself, and he could stop with a suddenness that was
 
 Hot Work. 213 
 
 startling. Nearly every other player had at some time 
 during the game been thrown from his feet, some re- 
 ceiving jarring falls, but nothing apparently could 
 overthrow Dade Morgan. 
 
 In the next two minutes of play Beckwith's men se- 
 cured another goal through the fine work of Morgan, 
 making the score five in their favor to four for the 
 Merriwells. 
 
 Then how the friends of Morgan yelled ! Bink and 
 Danny tried to lift a song of encouragement for Mer- 
 riwell's men, but it was drowned in the roar that went 
 up for Morgan. 
 
 Dade's face was darkly flushed, his eyes were shi- 
 ning brightly and the smile had deepened. He began to 
 see the possibility of defeating Merriwell's men. If 
 he could do that, he felt that it would reinstate him in 
 the good graces of all his former friends, and perhaps 
 give him the unquestioned leadership of the freshmen. 
 That would, he fancied, humiliate both Starbright and 
 Merriwell. 
 
 The game had begun nearly an hour late, and the 
 short day was rapidly drawing to a close. But none of 
 the players, none of the spectators, noticed this, so 
 great was their interest and excitement. The specta- 
 tors had come out expecting a good game, but not pre- 
 pared for such bulldog and wildcat style of hockey- 
 fighting. It was worth going miles to witness. 
 
 Again the play was on, with the groups round the 
 cleared space crowding as close up as they were per-
 
 214 Hot Work. 
 
 mitted, and all howling for their favorites and vocifer- 
 ously applauding. 
 
 Now and then through the uproar could be heard 
 the shrill squeals of Bink and Danny as they piped 
 for Merriwell. 
 
 After a fierce struggle Merriwell secured the puck 
 in the open and made a rush of the entire length of the 
 rink, dodging three opponents and scoring a beautiful 
 goal, tieing the score, which was now five to five. 
 
 In the next play Beckwith's men forced the puck to 
 the flags of their opponents and made a desperate ef- 
 fort to get another goal. But they failed to get by 
 Browning. Time after time his wonderful lifting and 
 stopping sent the puck from his goal. 
 
 Then Beckwith's men made another effort, and sent 
 the puck between the flags with a high shot which was 
 instantly protested. It had been made by Ned Silver, 
 and no one thought that Silver had tried to cheat ; but 
 the rules provided that no player should raise his stick 
 above his shoulder, and Silver had done that. 
 
 The goal was not counted; and with the match still 
 a tie, the fight for goals was renewed. 
 
 Silver might have been ruled off the ice, but, the 
 referee believing no infraction of the rules had been 
 intended, this was not done. 
 
 Merriwell now began to push the work toward the 
 other end of the rink, twice sending the puck for goal, 
 but each time the disk was stopped by Beckwith, whose 
 agility was remarkable for a man of his size. Beck- 
 with was a great football-player, and he showed that
 
 Hot Work. 215 
 
 he was equally good as a goal-keeper in a hockey- 
 match. 
 
 The position of goal-keeper is a hard one, and often 
 thankless. Though Beckwith frequently gained pos- 
 session of the puck he was never given time or room 
 to pass it down the rink, but was forced to shoot it 
 off to one side, thus preventing another try-for-goal 
 until the rubber could be worked back into favorable 
 position. 
 
 Finally Merriwell found the opening he was seeking 
 and drove the puck between the goal-posts, and the 
 score became six for his team to five for Beckwith's. 
 
 "Fellows, we can beat them !" Morgan urged, before 
 the beginning of the next play. "We'll do it." 
 
 The response was all that he wished, so far as effort 
 went. But Merriwell seemed now to have struck the 
 winning streak. The puck went toward Beckwith's 
 side, and then farther along by clever lifting and drib- 
 bling. 
 
 The musical ring of the skates and the sinewy move- 
 ments of the skaters were inspiring. Bink and Danny 
 lost their heads completely and yelled and squeaked 
 until they were hoarse. 
 
 Every inch of the way was hotly contested, and the 
 puck skipping back and forth, the excited spectators 
 could hardly tell for a time in which direction it was 
 really progressing. 
 
 Several times there were cries of "off-side," but 
 Frank saw that his men were doing no off-side play, 
 and the infractions of the rule by other players seemed
 
 216 Hot Work. 
 
 inconsequential. Once, however, he saw a skater it 
 was Roland Packard advance the puck with his skate. 
 Merriwell would have protested against this if the puck 
 had not been checked and sent on toward Beckwith's 
 goal. The officials did not see the trick of Packard. 
 
 Starbright secured the puck and was about to drive 
 it for goal, when it was "biffed" away by Morgan's 
 stick. Morgan shot it to Silver, who attempted to send 
 it farther along. 
 
 Then Ready secured it and started with it down the 
 rink, dribbling it just ahead of him. He tried to "lift" 
 it over the heads of the cover-point and others, but it 
 was stopped, and came whizzing back again. 
 
 Dashleigh obtained it and sent it bang against Beck- 
 with's shins, and Beckwith shot it to one side. 
 
 After some more quick work it came into Merri- 
 well's possession. Morgan skated in with the speed 
 of lightning to prevent Frank's play; but, swift as he 
 was, he was too slow. Frank's stick pushed the puck 
 with a quick flirt past Morgan and between the posts, 
 and another goal had been added. 
 
 The score was seven to five when the timekeeper's 
 whistle blew.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE ABDUCTION OF INZA. 
 
 As if it were an echo of that whistle, a scream came 
 from the lips of Inza Burrage. Having grown tired, 
 she had seated herself in the sleigh which had brought 
 out Danny and Bink. 
 
 Merriwell turned and beheld an astounding sight. 
 A man he believed to be Amos Belton, the junior whom 
 rumor said had fallen wildly in love with Inza, was 
 driving rapidly down the road in the sleigh, holding 
 Inza to his side in a clutch she could not cast off. He 
 had thrown something over her head, and this smoth- 
 ered her further screams, and also rendered her help- 
 less in his hands. 
 
 The spectators, who but a moment before had been 
 wildly cheering the playing of the hockey-teams, stood 
 as if frozen with astonishment. While they hesitated, 
 out of their midst leaped Merriwell, running on his 
 skates. 
 
 For the first time he observed the extreme lateness 
 of the hour. The delays caused by falls and the pro- 
 test of Silver's play had wonderfully lengthened out 
 the playing time. The sun had set and night was fast 
 coming on. 
 
 Bink and Danny were aghast. 
 
 "Our team!" Danny squalled. "Did you ever?"
 
 218 The Abduction of Inza. 
 
 As they were not aware of Belton's infatuation for 
 Inza, they had nothing on which to build a theory. 
 
 Merriwell's leap for the nearest vehicle set the whole 
 crowd in motion. Starbright and Dashleigh sprang 
 toward a horse. Dashleigh's mind was in a whirl, as 
 it went back to what he had seen in that house on 
 Whitney Avenue while he was searching for the 
 "party" given by Mrs. Whitlock. He could not help 
 feeling that what he had beheld there was in some way 
 connected with what was now happening. Yet he 
 could not see the connection. The girl seen in that 
 house was not Inza Burrage. He knew that, though 
 she had looked so much like her. 
 
 "I don't know what to think!" he stammered to 
 Starbright. 
 
 "You can see what Belton is doing!" 
 
 "Yes, but " 
 
 "Hello !" cried Starbright in dismay. "The harness 
 is cut !" 
 
 Merriwell made the same discovery concerning the 
 horse to which he had run. The harness had been 
 slashed with a sharp knife, which had cut through the 
 leather in several places, rendering it useless. 
 
 Merriwell darted to the next horse. The harness 
 of that horse was also severed. He saw beyond this 
 horse a sleigh which had recently been driven up, as 
 was evidenced by the fact that the horse seemed blown. 
 This animal was unblanketed, and all those brought 
 to the lake earlier in the afternoon had been heavily 
 blanketed to protect them from the wind and cold.
 
 The Abduction of Inza. 219 
 
 "The fellow came out in that sleigh !" he thought. 
 
 Seeing that the harness was intact, he sprang to- 
 ward the vehicle, at the same time glancing down the 
 road where the sleigh holding Inza and her abductor 
 was vanishing. 
 
 Hodge and Browning had jumped toward carriages 
 with the intention of taking the first they came to and 
 joining in the chase, but the harnesses were so cut and 
 slashed that they could not be used. 
 
 Merriwell leaped into the sleigh and turned the 
 horse toward the road. Then he reached over, took 
 the whip, and gave the animal a cut. It started down 
 the road at a speedy gait. 
 
 Frank's mind was in as much of a whirl as Dash- 
 leigh's. He did not know what Dashleigh had seen 
 on Whitney Avenue, but he had heard of the infatua- 
 tion of Amos Belton for Inza. He had learned, too, 
 that Belton had dropped behind in his studies and was 
 likely to be forced out of Yale on that account. The 
 report which had reached him accounted for Belton's 
 low grade on the theory that the junior's mind was so 
 taken up by thoughts of Inza that he could not study. 
 
 But Merriwell had never dreamed that Belton would 
 do what he now seemed to be doing, and the only 
 theory on which he could build for a possible solution 
 was that the junior had suddenly become insane. 
 
 Filled by this fear, Merriwell gave the horse another 
 cut, and sent it down the road at a racing gallop. 
 
 With the horse going at top speed, Merriwell gave
 
 220 The Abduction of Inza. 
 
 a moment to the removal of his skates; then again 
 took up the whip. 
 
 Back by the lake students were engaged in frantic 
 efforts to tie and splice the cut harnesses, while most 
 of the great crowd was streaming on foot down the 
 road. In the midst of these ran Danny and Bink, 
 whose shrill voices Merriwell could hear amid the din. 
 
 Then Starbright loomed out of the crowd, mounted 
 bareback on a horse which he had cut loose from a 
 buggy. But he was far in the rear of Frank, and his 
 chances of aiding Inza seemed poor indeed. 
 
 The sleigh containing Inza and the miscreant who 
 had seized her was flying along straight for New 
 Haven, a good distance in advance of Merriwell. 
 
 Suddenly Frank noticed that his horse was losing 
 speed and beginning to limp. He applied the whip, 
 rendered heartless in his treatment of the animal by 
 the fear that possessed him. 
 
 But the limping increased and the speed became 
 slower. A half-dozen times the horse stumbled and 
 almost fell. Then it stopped, doggedly refusing to 
 make another effort. It was dead lame. 
 
 Frank realized now why this horse had been left 
 and the other taken. Probably Inza's abductor had 
 not meant to take the other horse as he drove out, but 
 his own horse falling lame, he had seized the one 
 driven by Bink and Danny. Fortunately for his plans, 
 Inza was seated in that sleigh, making the work easier 
 for him.
 
 The Abduction of Inza. 221 
 
 Seeing that it was useless to depend further on this 
 animal, Frank sprang out of the sleigh. 
 
 He would have continued the chase on foot, but 
 glancing back, he saw Starbright coming on the horse 
 cut loose from the buggy. Behind Starbright, at 
 varying distances, streamed the students and the spec- 
 tators. 
 
 "Let me have your horse!" Merriwell commanded, 
 as Starbright came up, for Dick seemed about to ride 
 by. 
 
 Starbright reined in with a jerk and slipped to the 
 ground. 
 
 "You're lighter than I am," he said, "and can get 
 more speed out of the beast. Take him and welcome. 
 You must get Inza out of the clutches of that rascal. 
 He must be crazy!" 
 
 Frank vaulted to the back of the big black and was 
 away. The horse was fleeter than the other at his 
 best, and Frank's hopes began to rise. Yet so much 
 time had been already lost that it began to look im- 
 possible for him to overtake the sleigh before it 
 reached the tangle of city streets, if it could be done 
 at all. 
 
 "Crazy as a loon!" was Frank's thought as he tore 
 along, a terrible dread at his heart. "It's singular that 
 he drives straight toward the city!" 
 
 The lights were beginning to glow in the streets 
 when Frank, still a considerable distance behind, saw 
 the sleigh turn down a side avenue and disappear be- 
 hind some buildings.
 
 222 The Abduction of Inza. 
 
 He had ridden his horse at such high speed that he 
 had greatly decreased the distance separating him 
 from the sleigh. Riding hard for the avenue down 
 which the sleigh and its occupant had vanished, Frank 
 saw them again at the crossing of another street. 
 
 Then the houses shut them from sight, and when 
 he again beheld the sleigh it was returning to the prin- 
 cipal street. When he reached that street, however, 
 it had again vanished. 
 
 "It is singular that Inza doesn't cry out and attract 
 attention." 
 
 His heart was chilled by the answering thought : 
 
 "No doubt she is unconscious. The villain has 
 choked or smothered her. She is not a girl to faint 
 easily otherwise. He must be crazy. This zigzagging 
 back and forth shows it." 
 
 Frank seemed to be chasing a will-o'-the-wisp. At 
 one moment he would see the sleigh, then the driver 
 would send it down some side street, after which it 
 would appear again, to repeat this maneuver. 
 
 Observing a policeman at a corner, Frank leaped 
 from his horse, called the bluecoat's attention to the 
 sleigh ; then, leaving the horse to be cared for by other 
 hands, he dived into the nearest cab and instructed 
 the driver to follow the sleigh, and on no account to 
 let it get away from him. 
 
 "He'll be a good one if he slips me!" was the 
 driver's assertion, which he began to make good by 
 sending the cab forward at a swinging pace. 
 
 Frank, looking from the cab door, beheld the sleigh
 
 The Abduction of Inza. 223 
 
 again. It had reentered a street running parallel with 
 Chapel and was flying on. 
 
 "I never saw anything quite so queer," was Frank's 
 conclusion. "If the man isn't crazy, it looks as if he 
 wants me to follow him." 
 
 "There it goes!" called cabby. "Shall I just fol- 
 low it, or try to catch it?" 
 
 "Try to catch it!" 
 
 "Ga-ed up!" 
 
 The whip cracked, and the hackney stretched out 
 at a gallop. 
 
 It was a strange chase through the New Haven 
 streets a chase that began to draw attention. The 
 sleigh was keeping to the less-frequented thorough- 
 fares, apparently for the double reason of attracting 
 less notice and of getting better, and therefore faster, 
 sleighing. On Chapel Street the wear of travel and 
 traffic had well-nigh dissipated the snow. 
 
 The darkness of fast-gathering night had deepened, 
 but the streets were fairly well lighted, and the cabman 
 found no great difficulty in keeping the sleigh in view, 
 though he could not overtake it. 
 
 Frank's alarm increased. There were no indications 
 that Inza was calling to any one for help, and this 
 strange silence could mean nothing to him but that 
 she was unconscious and unable to call. 
 
 More and more he was convinced that Amos Belton 
 had suddenly become a raving maniac. He had al- 
 ways been considered somewhat peculiar. He was
 
 224 The Abduction of Inza. 
 
 dark and taciturn, making few friendships and seeking 
 none. 
 
 The fact that he had some time before fallen wildly 
 in love with Inza Burrage was a matter of common 
 report. Belton had not taken pains to conceal his pas- 
 sion, and on more than one occasion he had annoyed 
 the girl by thrusting himself into her company. 
 
 "Overtake the sleigh!" Frank called to the driver. 
 "I will pay you well for it." 
 
 The command was easy to give, but not easy to 
 carry out. The driver had been doing his best. 
 
 Now and then people ran out of their stores or 
 gathered in groups on the corners as pursued and pur- 
 suer tore by. Not another policeman had Frank seen, 
 and no one made an attempt to stop the sleigh, which 
 was now approaching the waterside and the wharves. 
 
 The ride across the city had been made in an in- 
 credibly short time, in spite of the zigzagging char- 
 acter of the route. 
 
 Frank kept the cab door open most of the time, 
 ready to spring out if there was any advantage thus 
 to be gained. The part of the city they were now in 
 was not as well lighted nor as thickly populated as that 
 they were leaving. 
 
 Again the sleigh took a side street and Frank ob- 
 tained a look at the occupants. The man was sitting 
 bolt upright, holding the reins, and the girl was ap- 
 parently leaning against his shoulder. Her long si- 
 lence had greatly increased Frank's alarm and anxiety.
 
 The Abduction of Inza. 225 
 
 Inza would not remain in so passive a state unless she 
 were unconscious. 
 
 The cab flew round the corner, taking the side street 
 with the wheels tipping. Again the sleigh shifted its 
 course, going straight toward one of the wharves. 
 The driver was evidently familiar with the streets and 
 locality. 
 
 "He has some desperate plan in his crazy mind," 
 was Frank's conclusion, "and he has studied the thing 
 out in advance with all the cunning of insanity. But 
 he will not be able to go much farther in this direc- 
 tion."
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE FATE OF SANTENEL. 
 
 There was no light on the long wharf down which 
 the sleigh was driven. 
 
 "We've got him now!" said the driver, twisting 
 round on his seat and speaking to Frank, who was 
 again looking out of the cab door. 
 
 "Unless he goes into the water!" was Frank's 
 startled thought. "A lunatic may be expected to do 
 anything." 
 
 He saw the sleigh reach the end of the wharf and 
 come to a stop at the side of the wharf building, then 
 beheld the driver alight. 
 
 A scream came as the driver roughly pulled the 
 muffled figure out after him. 
 
 Frank leaned half out of the cab, ready to jump 
 to the ground. The cabman gave the horse an extra 
 cut when he heard the scream, and the cab tore along 
 like mad. 
 
 But the man who had been in the s. Jgh was quick 
 of movement. He dragged the reeling figure toward 
 the water. 
 
 Then for the first time Frank saw a large steam- 
 launch tied up at the wharf. Toward this the man 
 hurried. The place was so dark that Frank could not 
 see the faces of those he was pursuing, and when the
 
 The Fate of Santenel. 227 
 
 cab reached the spot occupied by the sleigh the cabman 
 drew in, fearing to risk his horse farther. 
 
 Frank sprang out like a flash and pursued the man 
 on foot, leaping across the wharf with reckless bounds. 
 
 "Stop!" he called. "Stop, you villain!" 
 
 Again that scream came to urge him on; and, turn- 
 ing the corner of the low building, he saw the man 
 roughly bundle his half -inanimate burden into the 
 steam-launch. The man tumbled in also, and both 
 instantly disappeared. 
 
 It looked clear to Frank that Amos Belton had 
 previously placed the launch there to aid him in his 
 crazy scheme. Without a moment's hesitation, he 
 sprang from the wharf to the launch. The summer 
 awning had been removed, and the little deck was like 
 that of a small yacht. 
 
 A door, seeming to lead into a companionway or 
 cabin, was open before him, and into this Frank 
 pushed, sure that Inza and her abductor had vanished 
 through it. 
 
 He found himself in total darkness, except for the 
 light that came in through the door. Outside on the 
 wharf he heard the trample of horses' feet and the 
 voice of the cabman shouting some question after him. 
 
 Not taking time to strike a match, Frank pushed 
 straight ahead, feeling out before him with his hands. 
 In a moment he came against a wall, which seemed to 
 bar his farther progress in that direction. 
 
 "Inza!" he called. "Inza!" 
 
 There was no answer. He heard the voice of the
 
 228 The Fate of Santenel. 
 
 cabman again, then felt a footfall jar the launch. Ap- 
 parently the cabman had leaped to the deck. The next 
 instant Frank found himself in total darkness. 
 
 To his astonishment, he also heard the exhaust of 
 a steam-pipe, and felt the launch tremble as it began 
 to get under way. 
 
 He stood stock-still, with wildly beating heart. Ap- 
 parently the crazy student had made him a prisoner 
 and was putting the launch in motion, with the inten- 
 tion of running it out of the harbor. 
 
 "Well, he can't hold me in here !" was Frank's fierce 
 declaration. "And I can't risk any delay in getting 
 out." 
 
 He again shouted Inza's name, and heard only the 
 exhaust of the pipe. 
 
 "That was not the cabman who leaped on deck," 
 was his conclusion. "It was Belton, who came round 
 there to shut me in. I hope the cabman will lose no 
 time in giving the alarm!" 
 
 Realizing that he was quivering with excitement, 
 and that he needed a cool mind now if ever, Frank 
 stood still in the darkness, gathering together the 
 tangled thread of conjecture and evidence. 
 
 Then he coolly took a match from his pocket, struck 
 it, and looked about the room. It was very small, 
 with a door leading toward the stern of the launch. 
 
 "Perhaps Inza is beyond that door!" was his thought 
 as the match flamed up and then burned out. 
 
 He stepped to the door, rapped heavily on it, and 
 called Inza's name. As before, there was no answer.
 
 The Fate of Santenel. 229 
 
 The launch seemed to be tearing through the water at 
 a rapid rate, presumably moving down the harbor. 
 
 Frank struck another match, took a good look at 
 the door, and kicked on it heavily. It sprung inward 
 with quivering timbers, but withstood the assault. 
 Again and again he kicked on the door, throwing him- 
 self also against it with his shoulders. He was be- 
 coming desperate now, for his prison walls were 
 stronger than he had at first supposed. 
 
 No better results came from an attack on the other 
 door; and, returning to the one he had first tried to 
 force, he flung himself at it with so mighty a leap 
 and so irresistible an impetus that it yielded. 
 
 The door flew from its hinges, and he was flung 
 out into another dark little room flung with such 
 heavy force that he was almost stunned. 
 
 Before he could get up, he was set upon in the 
 darkness by a man, who seemed to rise up beside him. 
 Presumably he had been waiting to attack him if the 
 door yielded. 
 
 Believing that he had come in contact with Belton, 
 Frank struck heavily at the man in the gloom, think- 
 ing the best way to fight the supposed maniac was to 
 knock him out at once and render him incapable of 
 further mischief. The man dodged the blow and 
 struck back with an enraged snarl, exclaiming: 
 
 "If you go out of this boat it will be to drown!" 
 
 For a moment Frank felt weak and dazed. The 
 blow had not reached him, yet he fairly reeled against 
 the wall.
 
 230 The Fate of Santenel. 
 
 He was not fighting Amos Belton, but Dion San- 
 tenel ! 
 
 Could the man who looked so much like Amos Bel- 
 ton be Santenel, the hypnotist? The thing seemed 
 impossible, yet Merriwell believed it true. 
 
 Another conviction came to him. Santenel had not 
 abducted Inza for the purpose of carrying her away 
 or harming her, but to draw him into this trap, know- 
 ing that he would follow Inza to whatever point she 
 might be taken. 
 
 "You again, Santenel!" Frank hissed, lunging at 
 the dimly seen form of his enemy. 
 
 "So you know me?" screamed Santenel. "You tri- 
 umphed the other day; it is my turn now!" 
 
 The struggle that followed was fierce in the ex- 
 treme. Santenel's catlike eyes seemed able to pene- 
 trate the gloom. Raging like a madman, he bounded 
 to and fro, striking with the quickness of a rattlesnake. 
 Twice his fist found Frank's face, each time Santenel 
 dodging back and ducking in the darkness in time to 
 escape a counter-blow. 
 
 The launch was speeding through the water. 
 
 "Where is Inza?" Frank demanded, as he leaped in 
 between these blows. "Tell me, you scoundrel, or I'll 
 choke the life out of you!" 
 
 Santenel's laugh was almost maniacal. 
 
 "Food for fishes!" he cried. "What you will be 
 mighty soon!" 
 
 Then the hypnotist, again ducking and dodging, re-
 
 The Fate of Santenel. 231 
 
 newed the fight with a vindictiveness which Merriwell 
 had never seen equaled. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the gloom seemed to favor 
 Santenel, Frank at length succeeded in landing a blow 
 that knocked the hypnotist against the wall. He went 
 against it with a thud, dropped downward as if fall- 
 ing in a limp heap, then straightened half up and 
 pitched toward a door which opened to the little deck. 
 
 Before Frank could take advantage of his success- 
 ful blow Santenel had drawn his thin body through 
 this door and was scrambling out of the place. 
 
 Frank lunged and caught the man by the coat as he 
 gained the deck. But the hypnotist slipped out of 
 the garment, leaving it in Frank's hands. 
 
 Merjiwell sprang after him, intending to catch him 
 and force him to tell what had become of Inza. He 
 did not believe that Inza had fallen or been thrown 
 overboard, in spite of Santenel's horrible declaration 
 that she had become "food for fishes." 
 
 Santenel tried to dive into and through the other 
 door, the one Frank had first entered, but it stuck fast 
 or was locked. Before the hypnotist could get it 
 open Frank was again on him, and the struggle that 
 had raged below deck was again renewed. 
 
 "Tell me what you have done with her!" Frank 
 hissed, getting Santenel by the throat and pushing his 
 head backward. The fiend tried to wriggle away. 
 Failing in this, he struggled to trip his assailant, in 
 which effort he threw himself from his feet, and, fall-
 
 232 The Fate of Santenel. 
 
 ing with his head against the deck, was knocked into 
 temporary insensibility. 
 
 Seeing that he was unconscious, Frank glanced 
 about for a rope with which to tie him. Finding none, 
 he retraced his way across the little deck toward the 
 stern of the launch. 
 
 A hasty glance at the lights of the city showed that 
 the launch, no doubt with wheel tied, was steaming 
 straight out toward the channel. Already it was far 
 from the wharf it had so recently left. 
 
 "Inza!" Frank began to call, as he kicked about 
 with his feet for a rope. "Inza! Inza!" 
 
 There was no answer. A horrible fear weighted 
 him down. He wanted to begin an immediate search 
 for her, but he dared not until Santenel was safely se- 
 cured; for the desperate hypnotist was capable of 
 doing anything as soon as he recovered. 
 
 When no answer came to his cries, Frank was about 
 to strike a match and descend into the interior of the 
 launch and make a search, regardless of Santenel. 
 But at this moment the man recovered consciousness 
 and began an effort to get on his feet. 
 
 Frank rushed toward him. 
 
 "Stop !" he shouted, for he fancied he saw Santenel 
 drawing a weapon. 
 
 For reply, the villain hurled a heavy iron bolt at 
 him. Seeing this had missed, for Frank rushed 
 straight on, the hypnotist, with his mind apparently 
 muddled by his fall, gave a shriek, climbed to his feet, 
 and leaped over the rail into the water.
 
 The Fate of Santenel. 233 
 
 Frank stood still. 
 
 "Retribution!" he muttered. "Food for fishes! It 
 is the hand of outraged justice, and it has fallen at 
 last!" 
 
 For one brief moment he saw the dark face tossed 
 to the top of a wave ; then it disappeared. The launch 
 plowed on through the water. 
 
 "The last of Santenel!" was Frank's hoarse excla- 
 mation. 
 
 In spite of his fears concerning Inza, he stood star- 
 ing at the spot where the man's head had vanished, 
 though the darkness hid everything in that direction 
 now. 
 
 Then the memory of Inza dragged at his heart- 
 strings and pulled him away from the launch's side. 
 
 "Inza! Inza!" he called again and again. 
 
 There was no response. The sweat came out on 
 his face and his limbs trembled. 
 
 "Heavens ! Can it be possible the man spoke true?" 
 
 He groped his way into the vessel in search of a 
 lamp. Then, remembering that the launch was steam- 
 ing out toward the bay, he stopped this hunt, made his 
 way to the tiny engine, slowed it down and turned the 
 boat about with a whirl of the wheel. 
 
 Having done this, with a lantern he had discovered 
 he resumed his search for Inza. But she was not to 
 be found. What he had thought two cabins proved 
 to be a tiny cabin and a bunk-room. These seemed 
 to be the only rooms or semblance of rooms in the ves- 
 sel.
 
 234 The Fate of Santenel. 
 
 Sick at heart, with that awful fear stunning his 
 brain, Frank now took charge of the launch and sent 
 it back toward the wharf, but guiding it so that it 
 would pass over or near the spot where Santenel had 
 thrown himself into the water. 
 
 The gloom on the water was so great that he could 
 see nothing but the waves, which were black and oily. 
 There was no sign of Santenel. 
 
 Then, with his fears for Inza driving him almost 
 frantic, Frank began to zigzag the launch so as to 
 cover a greater area of surface. There seemed a 
 bare possibility, if Inza had fallen overboard or been 
 thrown overboard, that she might have caught hold 
 of something and sustained herself in the water. 
 
 "She couldn't hold on long, though!" he groaned. 
 "The villain told the truth ! She is dead !" 
 
 He grew cold at the thought, his heart seeming to 
 turn to ice. But a little while before, Inza, handsome, 
 spirited, joyous, had been applauding the playing of 
 the hockey-teams on the lake. Now, as he believed, 
 she had passed suddenly from the land of the living. 
 
 "And her murderer has gone with her. Yes; he 
 was her murderer, even if he did not throw her over- 
 board." 
 
 Frank sat as if frozen, his eyes staring almost 
 blankly at the lights on the wharf toward which the 
 launch was now moving. He heard nothing of the 
 voices rising on the wharf. 
 
 As he drew nearer he became conscious that Bink 
 and Danny were dancing about in the glow of a Ian-
 
 The Fate of Santenel. 235 
 
 tern, howling and exclaiming. Usually the little fel- 
 lows amused him. Now he felt that he did not want 
 to see them or hear them. Their seeming levity jarred 
 on him. 
 
 As in a dream, Frank guided the launch up to the 
 wharf. He scarcely observed the group of friends 
 who had gathered there, nor the cab and cabman in 
 the background. Nor did he notice the questions and 
 exclamations that were being shouted at him. 
 
 But as the launch grated against the wharf he pulled 
 himself together by a great effort and looked with 
 wild eyes at the crowd. 
 
 The blood which had seemed to be congealed round 
 his heart rushed back in a hot wave. 
 
 Inza Burrage stood in the forefront of the crowd, 
 alive, well, unharmed! 
 
 The last plot of Dion Santenel had been extremely 
 desperate such a plot as the brains of a madman 
 alone could devise. 
 
 Bert Dashleigh had come near revealing it when he 
 blundered into that house on Whitney Avenue and be- 
 held the youth disguised as a girl and made up to look 
 like Inza. 
 
 Santenel had carried Inza in the sleigh from Lake 
 Whitney into the city; but, having choked her into 
 insensibility, he dropped her out in an alley, at which 
 point the youth dressed to resemble her took her place 
 in the sleigh. It had been Santenel, disguised as 
 Amos Belton, and this youth whom Merriwell chased 
 through the city streets.
 
 236 The Fate of Santenel. 
 
 Without doubt the disguised youth concealed him- 
 self somewhere in the darkness of the old buildings 
 on the wharf. 
 
 Santenel's plot was no doubt murderous, inspired 
 by feelings of baffled hate and a desire for revenge. 
 
 Three days afterward a body identified as his floated 
 to the wharf where the launch had laid, and was found 
 there by a boatman. 
 
 "I have decided not to try to force Dade Morgan 
 out of Yale," said Frank, talking over the situation 
 afterward with Bart Hodge. I have been in a dilemma 
 about it. The fellow is almost a genius in some lines. 
 He might go headlong to the bad if I should move 
 against him, while a little leniency and kindness may 
 let him see where he stands and turn him in the right 
 direction. With Santenel dead, I see no reason why 
 he should attempt anything further against me." 
 
 "I guess you are right," Hodge admitted. "There 
 seems to be no reason why he should strike at you 
 again. But it's awfully hard for a rattlesnake to for- 
 get that it is a rattlesnake."
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 IN FRANK'S ROOM. 
 
 "I say, Merriwell," cried Jack Ready, strolling into 
 Frank's room, his hat set rakishly over one ear and 
 his hands thrust into his trousers pockets, "do you 
 know what they call a young black cat in England ?" 
 
 "Why, I've been in England," said Frank, rising 
 from his open trunk, which he was packing, "but I 
 don't believe I can tell what they call a young black 
 cat over there." 
 
 "Why," chuckled the visitor, with great satisfac- 
 tion, "they call her 'kitty, kitty,' just the same as we 
 do on this side of the water. Oh, Merry, you're a 
 good thing!" 
 
 Frank laughed heartily, Ready's jovial mood being 
 contagious. 
 
 "You're steadily growing sharper and sharper, old 
 man," said Merry. "You're becoming dangerous to 
 fool with of late." 
 
 "Oh, yes," nodded Jack, striking a pose, with one 
 hand thrust into the opening of his vest. "The mantle 
 of Bink Stubbs hath descended upon me and I am 'it.' 
 I am making enemies in a merry way with my per- 
 siflage. Sprung that on two other fellows this morn- 
 ing. One told me it was so old it had whiskers, while 
 the other got his back up and wanted to t'ump me in
 
 238 In Frank's Room. 
 
 my mild, blue eye. This being a practical joker is get- 
 ting to be a great responsibility, and I feel the strain. 
 I am glad vacation is at hand, as it will serve to give 
 me a short breathing-spell. Packing your paper col- 
 lars and pajamas? Leave to-morrow, I suppose? 
 Whither do you fly?" 
 
 "Yes, I leave in the morning," nodded Frank. "Got 
 to run down to New York to attend to some business 
 concerning my play, 'True Blue.' ' 
 
 "Which way after that?" 
 
 "Well, Starbright has invited me to visit him." 
 
 "I'm another. Going to accept?" 
 
 "I may." 
 
 "Then, by all the eternal gods of Olympus! I'm 
 going to try to get round there myself. You hear me 
 chirp! You catch the silvery cadence of my voice!" 
 
 "He invited you?" 
 
 "Did he? Why, he fell on my neck and wept like 
 a brother at thoughts of parting. We mingled our 
 weeps, and we spilled brine enough to start another 
 ocean. It was sad, and touching, and sloppy. He 
 said, 'Ready, old man, I hate to leave you alive.' I 
 said, 'Starbright, my baby, you're the only freshman 
 for whom I entertain the slightest feeling of affection, 
 and I've always felt for you with a brickbat.' It 
 was a strange, weird spectacle a soph and a freshie 
 weeping in each other's arms. Any minute I expected 
 he would toss me down and jump on me, but he did 
 nothing of the kind, and it has dawned on me that 
 the fellow really likes me and really meant it when
 
 In Frank's Room 239 
 
 he invited me to run over and visit him with the rest 
 of the gang during the holidays." 
 
 "Did you accept?" 
 
 "Not on the spot; but now now I know you are 
 going I may. Who's going?" 
 
 "Well, I understand Browning is one and 
 Hodge." 
 
 "Browning's all right, but Hodge well, he's a good 
 fighter when that is necessary, but he doesn't add much 
 jolliness to a gathering. A joke always seems to rub 
 him the wrong way." 
 
 There came a sound of many feet and voices out- 
 side, the door was flung open, and Bruce Browning 
 came in, followed by Bart Hodge, Dick Starbright, 
 Bert Dashleigh, and Greg Carker. Bruce made 
 straight for a comfortable couch, on which he 
 dropped, brought forth a clay pipe and began to fill 
 it. The others greeted Merriwell, Hodge saying: 
 
 "Thought we'd come up, Frank, just to get the 
 crowd together for a little while before we separate 
 for the holidays. You don't mind?" 
 
 "Fellows, I'm delighted to have you come in just 
 like this," declared Frank. "Make yourselves at home, 
 every man of you." 
 
 "That's right," said Ready, "if you can't find chairs, 
 sit right down on the carpet; it won't hurt it much. 
 What's that thing you're filling, Browning a clay 
 pipe? Ye gods and little fishes! How have the 
 mighty fallen! I didn't think you'd come down to 
 that! How did it happen?"
 
 240 In Frank's Room. 
 
 "Well," grunted Bruce, getting into a comfortable 
 position, as he lighted the pipe, "you see even a clay 
 pipe has its advantages." 
 
 "What are they?" 
 
 "Why, if you let one fall on the pavement or a hard 
 floor, you don't have to bother to pick it up," ex- 
 claimed the laziest man in Yale, causing a laugh at his 
 expense. 
 
 "That surely is a bad case of ennui," said Carker 
 reprovingly. 
 
 "What's that?" yawned Browning. "How do you 
 define ennui?" 
 
 "I can define it," declared Ready, at once. "It's 
 when you're tired of doing nothing and too lazy to do 
 something." 
 
 "That's what's ailed Bruce ever since the football 
 season closed," nodded Frank. "I had begun to fancy 
 that Bruce had reformed that he'd put laziness be- 
 hind him forever. Why, he trained like a slave, and 
 he worked like a fiend to reduce flesh. He was in the 
 very pink of condition the day he went onto the field 
 in the Harvard game. Looked healthy and hand- 
 some." 
 
 "Thanks," rumbled the lazy giant. "Bow to the 
 gentleman for me, please, Ready. It's too much of 
 a job for me to rise. I know I was a perfect Apollo, 
 but the task of being an Apollo was too great a strain. 
 I had to throw it up." 
 
 "But not till we had downed Harvard beautifully,"
 
 In Frank's Room. 241 
 
 said Starbright, his fair, handsome face glowing. 
 "Oh, they thought they had us! They came mighty 
 near it in the first half, and " 
 
 "Gave me heart-disease," put in Dashleigh. "I'll 
 never get over it. Sometimes I wake up nights now, 
 yelling, 'Three yards more and Harvard'll have a 
 touch-down ! Hold 'em, boys hold 'em !' ' 
 
 "That was Bart's constant cry," said Browning. 
 "He begged us separately and collectively to hold 'em, 
 but the only thing that saved the day was Merry's 
 appearance on the field at the close of the game. They 
 had us going all right in that half, and they'd have 
 scored in another minute." 
 
 "But you made a gallant fight," said Frank, his 
 eyes flashing "a fight to be remembered always. I 
 am proud of every man on the team." 
 
 "Yah!" muttered Hodge sourly. "Are you proud 
 of that dog Morgan? I don't believe it!" 
 
 "In a certain way, I am proud of him," asserted 
 Merry positively. 
 
 "But you were ready to wring his everlasting neck 
 a short time ago. You announced your intention of 
 kicking him out of Yale." 
 
 "And you could have done it, all right," put in 
 Carker. "He heard the rumbling of the approaching 
 earthquake, and he " 
 
 "Oh, choke that earthquake business !" cut in Ready. 
 "Don't use the expression; reserve it for your social- 
 istic lectures."
 
 242 In Frank's Room. 
 
 "Fellows," said Frank, "I admit that I was ready 
 and resolved to crush Dade Morgan a short time ago." 
 
 "But you have not crushed him," spoke Hodge. 
 "Why was it? Tell us. We want to know." 
 
 "I cannot explain everything, for it will take too 
 much time if I do; but I will say this much, I dis- 
 covered that Morgan was not wholly responsible for 
 his actions toward me. Another will than his own 
 controlled and directed him. This may seem too re- 
 markable to be true, but it is a fact. The one who con- 
 trolled him hated me with a hatred that only death 
 could terminate. If Morgan rebelled, this monster 
 put on the screws and forced his tool to perform his 
 work. Mind you, I do not claim that Dade Morgan 
 naturally would be perfect or even a fine fellow; but 
 he was led to the very verge of murder by the wretch 
 who impelled him to his acts. Morgan in his right 
 mind and being his own master would never have gone 
 that far." 
 
 "Perhaps not," muttered Hodge; "but I believe 
 he'd do anything." 
 
 "I think," Merry pursued, "that there came a time 
 when Morgan was anxious to cease troubling me. I 
 have thought the whole matter over, and I have de- 
 cided that I know when that time arrived. Then it 
 was that the monster behind him put on the screws and 
 forced him forward against his will." 
 
 "And, if you do not wind Morgan up," said Dash-
 
 In Frank's Room. 243 
 
 leigh, "may not this same monster continue his dirty 
 work?" 
 
 Frank shook his head, with a strange, grim smile 
 of satisfaction. 
 
 "Neither Morgan nor myself will be troubled by 
 him any more," he declared. "That man is dead."
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 WHAT ELSIE SAID. 
 
 "Say, old fellow," said Ready, edging up to Brown- 
 ing, "lend me fifty, will you?" 
 
 "Fifty what?" grunted Bruce. 
 
 "Why, fifty dollars. I " 
 
 "Quit your joking." 
 
 "I'm not joking. I need the money. I'm broke." 
 
 "My dear boy," said Browning, "you're not broke; 
 you're cracked. Lend you fifty dollars! I see my- 
 self!" 
 
 "I am desperate," asserted Jack wildly. "There 
 is no telling what a man will do when he needs 
 money." 
 
 "That's so," admitted Bruce. "Look at all the fel- 
 lows who get married." 
 
 "Ah!" sighed Dashleigh, "you know they say love 
 is blind." 
 
 "But as a rule," put in Carker dolefully, "marriage 
 is an eye-opener." 
 
 "I," laughed Starbright, who was sprawling on a 
 Morris chair, "shall refuse to be mercenary when it 
 comes to marriage, I shall marry for beauty." 
 
 "My dear boy," said Frank, "the fellow who mar- 
 ries for beauty is usually the victim of "
 
 What Elsie Said. 245 
 
 "A skin game," interrupted Ready. "The dollars 
 are good enough for me." 
 
 "Speaking about dollars," said Bart, "do any of 
 you believe that old story about George Washington 
 throwing a dollar across the Potomac River?" 
 
 "Why, of course," nodded Merry immediately. 
 "It's a very likely story." 
 
 "I fail to see it in that light. He couldn't do it." 
 
 "Why not ? Washington was a powerful man, and, 
 besides, a dollar would go twice as far in those days 
 as it will now." 
 
 Ready gasped and dropped with a crash upon a 
 chair. 
 
 "Fan me!" he said faintly. "Merriwell takes his 
 place at the head of the class. I think I'll have to 
 touch him for the cold cash." 
 
 "Why is it," questioned Carker, "that people always 
 speak of money as cold cash?" 
 
 "I suppose," said Merry, laughing softly, "it's be- 
 cause so many human beings have a way of freezing 
 to it." 
 
 "What again?" howled Ready, popping bolt up- 
 right and staring at Frank. "How do you dare, sir! 
 In my presence, too! I am the only one who has a 
 right to do such things. But, really and truly, I've got 
 to borrow some spondulicks before I leave for vaca- 
 tion. Got a bill from my tailor. He wrote on the 
 bottom: 'Dear sir, if you pay the enclosed bill, you 
 will oblige me; if you don't, I shall oblige you.' Now, 
 wouldn't that bump you!"
 
 246 What Elsie Said. 
 
 "Don't talk of tailors!" grumbled Browning. 
 "You've got a regular hand-me-down suit on." 
 
 "Bah !" retorted Jack instantly. "That suit of yours 
 reminds me of an unripe watermelon." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Because it's so different. One isn't fit to cut, and 
 the other isn't cut to fit. Refuse me! Wouldn't let 
 me have a small loan, eh? Well, you shall repent in 
 sackcloth and ashes. Yea, verily!" 
 
 Carker began whistling mournfully to himself. 
 
 "Listen to that," murmured Frank, nudging Ready. 
 "I wonder if he whistles to himself when he's alone." 
 
 "Prithee I cannot tell," answered Jack. "I've never 
 been with him when he was alone." 
 
 "Fellows," said Starbright soberly, "I know a 
 scheme whereby we can all make money." 
 
 "Unwind it to us !" cried Ready. 
 
 "Let's hear it," urged Hodge. 
 
 "We're listening," said Dashleigh. 
 
 "Go on," urged Browning. 
 
 "It's simple," assured Dick, still with perfect grav- 
 ity. ''All we have to do is perfume our paper money." 
 
 "Hey?" said Carker, who had stopped whistling. 
 
 "What?" grunted Browning, ceasing to puff at his 
 pipe. 
 
 "What are you giving us?" muttered Hodge. 
 
 "That's right," declared the fair-haired freshman. 
 "You see by perfuming our paper money we can add 
 a scent to every dollar."
 
 What Elsie Said. 247 
 
 Frank laughed again, while Ready thumped him- 
 self behind the ear with his clenched fist. 
 
 "Another rival!" he groaned. "This is driving me 
 to suicide. And still I need that money." 
 
 "Why, my dear boy," smiled Frank, "I heard that 
 you won some money from Skelding last night." 
 
 "Oh, no!" Jack hastened to deny. "No money; I 
 merely won a few bets from him." 
 
 There came a rap on the door. 
 
 "Come in," called Merry. 
 
 But every fellow in that room, Browning included, 
 sprang to his feet when the door opened and they 
 saw Inza Burrage and her father just outside. 
 
 "Perhaps we're intruding?" suggested Mr. Burrage 
 apologetically. 
 
 "Oh, no !" exclaimed Merry. "Come right in !" 
 
 He sprang forward and greeted Inza warmly with 
 outstretched hand. She never before had looked so 
 stunning and dashing. At least, Frank thought so. 
 
 "We thought we'd come round and call a moment 
 before you left, Frank," she said, in her well-modu- 
 lated, musical voice. "You go " 
 
 "To-morrow. I was packing my trunk when the 
 fellows strolled in. I'm glad you came, Inza." 
 
 He drew her into the room, and the boys bowed, 
 greeting with enthusiasm the former mascot of the 
 crew. She spoke to them all, but it seemed that even 
 a little more color mounted to her flushed cheeks when 
 Starbright, the handsome giant freshman, bowed low 
 before her.
 
 248 What Elsie Said. 
 
 And keen eyes might have seen that Dick was not 
 quite at ease, though he made a desperate effort to 
 appear thus. 
 
 Mr. Burrage shook hands with the boys, having a 
 pieasant word for each one, but the arrival of Inza 
 put an end to their free-and-easy badinage and joking. 
 They gathered about her in an admiring circle, listen- 
 ing to every word she uttered, each feeling in his 
 heart that she was a most bewilderingly handsome and 
 adorable young lady. In her presence, even Carker 
 forgot to be pessimistic and melancholy, and not once 
 did he speak of the "rumble of the approaching earth- 
 quake." 
 
 But Starbright hung on her words in a breathless 
 way, and his heart leaped when she turned toward him 
 with one of her dazzling smiles, or spoke to him di- 
 rectly, and he felt that he was being robbed of his 
 just due, if for a little time she gave him no special 
 attention. 
 
 Dick Starbright knew that Frank and Inza were 
 fast friends, he knew they were almost sweethearts, 
 he knew Inza would not be there but for Merry; yet 
 since the day he first saw this dark-eyed, black-haired 
 radiant queen of a girl something he could not hold 
 in check had been growing in his breast growing, 
 growing, growing. He sought to tell himself that it 
 was no more than mere admiration for an unusually 
 handsome young lady, and he sought to believe that 
 he could readily and easily forget her; but she crept 
 into his dreams with her stately grace, her dark, be-
 
 What Elsie Said. 249 
 
 wildering eyes, her laugh that thrilled the blood, heir 
 mouth that seemed made for kisses. 
 
 And now, sitting in Merriwell's room, with Inza 
 near, his blood throbbed in his big, strong body with 
 all the full flood of healthy, robust youth. 
 
 "Why shouldn't I win her for my own ?" he mentally 
 cried. 
 
 Then he looked at Frank Merriwell, and he be- 
 lieved he had found his answer. Contrasting himself 
 with Frank, he seemed very immature, despite his size, 
 and there was something of greenness about him that 
 must count against him. How dared he think for a 
 single moment that he, the raw youth, could win from 
 this clever and experienced young man of the world! 
 He was crushed and abashed. 
 
 Coming out of his trance, Dick found Frank was 
 telling Inza of some photographs he had taken. She 
 wished to see them, and he said they were in an ad- 
 joining room. She rose at once, and they passed be- 
 yond some portieres. 
 
 Though he still could hear her voice through the 
 open door, it seemed to Dick Starbright that some- 
 thing went out of the sunshine, leaving it dull and 
 somber, and there was a strange sensation like a pain 
 in his heart. 
 
 Frank and Inza chatted over the pictures, which con- 
 sisted of a group of the Yale football-team, with 
 Merry the central figure, and a number of snap shots 
 of the team in practise and at play. The smell of
 
 250 What Elsie Said. 
 
 Browning's pipe pervaded the rooms, and Merry threw 
 open a door leading into the hall, which gave a draft. 
 
 "I suppose you are glad the holidays have come?" 
 said Inza. 
 
 "I don't know," he admitted. "You see, it is differ- 
 ent with me than with other fellows. They have 
 homes, and fathers, and mothers, and brothers, and 
 sisters to which they go. Their fathers and mothers 
 are waiting to greet them with affection, while their 
 brothers and sisters will regard them with admiration 
 and pride. They are going to pleasant firesides, 
 Christmas trees and merry times. I have no home, 
 no mother, sisters, or brothers. True, I have a father, 
 but he is worn and old and strange to me, for I've 
 never seen much of him. But I love him, just the 
 same. Poor old man! He has suffered much, and 
 now, with no enemy to harass him further, I trust 
 he may have peace and happiness." 
 
 Inza was touched by Merry's words. For the first 
 time, it seemed, she fully realized his unfortunate posi- 
 tion in the world. 
 
 "I'm sorry, Frank," she said, looking into his eyes. 
 "But your play has given you money so that you might 
 purchase a home of your own, and your father has a 
 fortune. He could buy a mansion." 
 
 "He might," admitted Merry; "but he cannot get 
 over the feeling that the ghost of his enemy may rise 
 to haunt him as of old, and he is the most restless 
 person I ever saw. Were he a younger man, I'm sure
 
 What Elsie Said. 251 
 
 nothing could keep him from traveling constantly. 
 Even now, I worry for fear he may take a freakish 
 notion to strike out suddenly for parts unknown." 
 
 "Are you sure his mind is just right?" 
 
 "I think it is now. A short time ago I was not 
 so sure ; but never again will he fall beneath the spell 
 of Brandon Drood. Drood is dead, and his wicked 
 career is ended." 
 
 "He was a dreadful man !" exclaimed Inza. "Think 
 how he tried to bury your poor father alive! He 
 should have been punished for his awful crimes." 
 
 "I am willing to leave his soul in the hands of One 
 who doeth all things well," came solemnly from 
 Merry's lips. 
 
 "Where do you expect to spend the most of your 
 vacation ?" 
 
 "Starbright has invited me to visit him in his home, 
 and I think I shall go there. Then I am to meet 
 father in New York. Several of the fellows are going 
 to visit Starbright." 
 
 "Isn't he a splendid fellow!" exclaimed the dark- 
 eyed girl enthusiastically. "He is so big and grand! 
 It was magnificent to see him tear through the ene- 
 my's line in the football-game. And he's handsome, 
 too!" 
 
 "Here! here!" cried Merry reprovingly. "This 
 will never do! Why, I believe you are interested in 
 him, Inza!" 
 
 His heart was smitten by a pang of jealousy, for 
 he was like other fellows in this respect, and no one
 
 252 What Elsie Said. 
 
 is flawless. She laughed when she saw him looking 
 at her almost accusingly. 
 
 "I am," she boldly declared. "Why shouldn't I 
 be ? He is your friend, and you have told me what a 
 great, big-hearted chap he is. You want me to like 
 all of your friends, don't you?" 
 
 "Oh, yes; but there are different ways of liking 
 a fellow, Inza." 
 
 "I like him as I might a big, handsome brother." 
 
 "Oh, well ! that will do. I can't object to that." 
 
 "Do you think," she said teasingly, "that you could 
 object under any circumstances? If I really and truly 
 fell in love with him, could you object?" 
 
 She had him cornered, and he knew it. 
 
 "Oh, I don't suppose I'd have a right to object!" he 
 laughed, though that pang of jealousy still gnawed at 
 his heart. 
 
 "Surely not!" Inza exclaimed. "According to your 
 own tell, Dick is one of the finest fellows in the world, 
 and were he to take a fancy to me, you ought to be 
 glad and happy. It would be your duty to help it 
 along." 
 
 He felt that she was teasing him, but still it was 
 a tender spot, and it made him squirm a bit. 
 
 "Inza," he said sincerely, "once I did my best to 
 keep you from marrying a man your father had se- 
 lected for you, but a man you told me you did not 
 love." 
 
 "For which," she admitted, "I owe you much. I 
 can see now that it would have been a fatal folly."
 
 What Elsie Said. 253 
 
 "I felt that way about it, dear girl, and that was 
 why I did my best to keep you from taking the false 
 step. Had I known you really and truly loved him, 
 I should have remained silent In this case it is dif- 
 ferent, for Starbright is worthy of a fine girl ; but he 
 is young yet even younger than you, Inza." 
 
 "Not much younger. A year cannot make much 
 difference." 
 
 "No, not much. If I knew Starbright loved you 
 and you cared for him more than any one else, what- 
 ever I might feel in my heart, I would do my best to 
 bring you together, and would say, 'Bless you, my 
 children/ " 
 
 She laughed in her merry way. 
 
 "I believe it, Frank," she said. "But I was jolly- 
 ing, that's all. There is no danger that Starbright 
 will ever care for me that way, and perhaps I'd not 
 care for him if he did. I am waiting to be one of 
 the bridesmaids when you are married to Elsie. I 
 shall live and die an old maid." 
 
 She made this final declaration in the most solemn 
 manner possible. They were standing by a window, 
 now, looking out upon the bare elms and the ground 
 lightly covered with snow, which had fallen the 
 previous night. 
 
 "I'll wager something you do not!" he exclaimed, 
 leaning over her shoulder. 
 
 "What will you wager?" 
 
 "A kiss," he breathed softly. "And, as I know I'll 
 win, I'll take it now."
 
 254 What Elsie Said. 
 
 "Oh, no! don't be so hasty, sir! I'm not willing 
 to confess that I shall lose the wager." 
 
 "But still," he pleaded, "for old times, Inza. You 
 remember the far-away days at Fardale? You re- 
 member the night we leaned on the gate before your 
 home, with the moon hidden for a moment behind a 
 cloud? You remember what happened then, Inza?" 
 
 She grew strangely pale, and then the blood rushed 
 to her cheeks in a burning flood. 
 
 "I'll never forget, Frank!" she whispered, a tremor 
 running over her. "Never!" 
 
 Memory took her back to that sweet summer eve- 
 ning of her girlhood days. It seemed that she could 
 see the peaceful, moonlighted village street and could 
 feel the touch of the fragrant breeze that fanned her 
 cheek. Then Frank was a handsome cadet at the lit- 
 tle military academy, and she had loved him with all 
 the depth of her impulsive girlish heart. He had 
 kissed her over the gate in that masterful, undeniable 
 way of his, and a million times since then she had 
 thought of the joy of that moment. 
 
 But years had wrought a change in them both. Be- 
 tween them had risen a pretty, sweet-faced, golden- 
 haired girl. That girl was Inza's dearest friend, and 
 sometimes her heart had cried out in rebellion against 
 Elsie, who had caused Frank's thoughts to stray from 
 her. 
 
 "Those were happy days," said Frank gently. 
 
 "Yes," came faintly from her lips; "happier than I 
 have ever known since."
 
 What Elsie Said. 255 
 
 She felt his arm slip across her shoulders, and, for 
 a moment, she permitted it to remain there, little 
 dreading that she had again come between Frank 
 and Elsie. 
 
 Outside the door that opened into the hall the door 
 that Merry opened to permit fresh air to sweep 
 through the room stood a blue-eyed girl, rooted to 
 the floor, gazing in upon them, her heart throbbing 
 madly and painfully in her breast. It was Elsie, who 
 had mounted the stairs, and she saw Frank bending 
 over Inza, heard the murmur of their voices, beheld 
 him put his arm around Inza's waist then turned 
 and fled noiselessly down the stairs, not pausing until 
 she had reached the street; and everything that had 
 looked so bright but a moment before suddenly seemed 
 to change.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 ELSIE'S STRANGE FLIGHT. 
 
 Buck Badger and his wife, former Winnie Lee, 
 were in New Haven, having come on to visit Winnie's 
 relatives during the holidays. Coming up the stairs 
 in Vanderbilt Hall, they saw through the open door- 
 way Frank and Inza talking by the window. At that 
 moment, Frank turned, saw them, uttered an exclama- 
 tion of surprise and pleasure, and sprang forward with 
 outstretched hands. 
 
 "Buck!" he cried. "Is it possible? And Winnie! 
 Excuse me Mrs. Badger." 
 
 "But Winnie still, Frank," laughed the handsome 
 young wife, her face suffused with color. 
 
 Frank had Badger by the hand, while Winnie and 
 Inza rushed into each other's arms. 
 
 "Well, if this isn't great!" cried Merriwell. 
 
 "That's whatever!" came from the lips of Badger, 
 who quivered through all his sturdy frame. 
 
 "Talk about surprises ! I'm overjoyed to see you !" 
 
 "And I," said the young rancher, "am just roaring 
 glad to grip the hand of the best friend I ever had in 
 all my life! I can't say more, Merriwell; but I mean 
 that I mean it ! You were my best friend. I've had 
 time to think the old days here at Yale all over and 
 over a hundred times, and I allow I've come to see
 
 Elsie's Strange Flight. 257 
 
 things in their right light. I was an onery coyote, but 
 you were my friend, and you kept me from going to 
 the dogs. You gave me Winnie," he whispered, "the 
 best and truest little wife a man ever had ! I can never 
 repay you for that, Frank !" 
 
 "Don't talk about paying for anything," said Mer- 
 riwell. "I am paid a thousand times for anything I 
 did for you by seeing your happiness, old man. But I 
 think you're giving me credit for doing altogether too 
 much. I don't know that I ever did much of anything 
 for you." 
 
 "Yes, you did!" insisted the Kansan, with intense 
 earnestness. "Nobody ever did so much for me be- 
 sides you. You made a man of me ! You might have 
 kicked me into the gutter and turned me into a dog, but 
 you held out your hand and pulled me up to the top 
 of the heap, even after I'd done you more than one 
 onery, mean turn. That's whatever! Nobody but a 
 white man all the way through would have done as 
 you did, partner. You might have had me expelled 
 from Yale in disgrace, and that would have turned 
 my old man against me; but, instead of that, forget- 
 ting all the bad things I'd tried to do to you, you 
 helped me get started on the right trail. I was pretty 
 weak in those times, Merriwell; I know it now. I 
 thought I was strong, but I was right ready to go 
 wrong. A little push from you would have sent me 
 wrong. And you helped me win Winnie! That was 
 the greatest thing you ever did for anybody, partner!" 
 
 In that moment Frank Merriwell was rewarded for
 
 258 Elsie's Strange Flight. 
 
 all he had endured at the hands of this repentant 
 young man, who had once been his enemy, and his 
 heart was filled with thankfulness because he had never 
 permitted his resentment and desire for revenge to 
 get the best of him and induce him to push Badger 
 down. 
 
 With this thought came another. He had been 
 lenient toward Dade Morgan just when he might have 
 destroyed the fellow at a single stroke. It had seemed 
 like weakness, after all Morgan had tried to do to 
 him ; but now Merry was happy in the knowledge that 
 he had given Morgan another opportunity and had 
 not thrust him down. 
 
 "I've learned one thing," said Badger, who seemed 
 determined to reveal to Frank all that his heart had 
 taught him since the happy day of his union with 
 Winnie. "It's the coward who tries to kill his ene- 
 mies; the brave, strong man turns his enemies into 
 friends. That's whatever!" 
 
 In the meantime, in ways peculiar to budding young 
 womanhood, Inza and Winnie were expressing their 
 delight over the meeting. 
 
 "I didn't know we should find you here, but we 
 were speaking of you," said Winnie. "You are hand- 
 somer than ever, Inza." 
 
 "And you, Winnie," said the dark-haired girl, ga- 
 zing at her friend with love and admiration, "why, 
 you're simply wonderful." 
 
 "Oh, it's the West and the air out there !" laughed 
 Buck's wife, in blushing confusion.
 
 Elsie's Strange Flight. 259 
 
 "Well, I think I'll have to try that air." 
 
 "You don't need it, Inza; you're handsome any- 
 where, and you require no air tonic. But how does it 
 happen you are here. Why, just before we reached 
 the steps, Elsie said it would be just lovely to find you 
 in New Haven." 
 
 "Elsie?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Why, is Elsie Where is she?" 
 
 "Yes," cried Frank, who had noted Winnie's word. 
 "Where is Elsie?" 
 
 "She was with us," explained Badger. "Winnie 
 and I paused a moment on the steps to look around, 
 while she ran up-stairs ahead." 
 
 Frank and Inza looked at each other in amazement 
 
 "She's not here," said Merry breathlessly. 
 
 "No," said Winnie. "She came back quickly, meet- 
 ing us just as we were entering. I don't know what 
 ailed her, but she was very pale and said she was ill." 
 
 "Never saw such a change come over anybody in 
 a minute," declared Buck. "I don't understand it now. 
 Why, a little while before she was all life and happi- 
 ness, and her cheeks were like two sun-kissed peaches, 
 and she " 
 
 "That will do, sir !" cried Winnie, frowning. "You 
 may talk like that about me, but not about other young 
 ladies. Don't forget that you are a married man." 
 
 Then Buck and Winnie laughed, but neither Frank 
 nor Inza joined them. 
 
 "It's very strange," said Frank slowly.
 
 260 Elsie's Strange Flight. 
 
 "She seemed trembling, too," explained Winnie. "I 
 asked her what was the matter, and she said she was 
 ill." 
 
 "Quickest fit of sickness I ever saw strike anybody," 
 muttered Badger. 
 
 "I urged her to come up to your rooms," Winnie 
 went on; "but she said she couldn't climb the stairs." 
 
 "I'd brought her right up in my arms, if it hadn't 
 been for the looks of the thing," asserted Buck. 
 
 "She said she must have some air," Winnie con- 
 tinued. "We wanted to stay with her, but she wouldn't 
 hear to it. Said it would attract attention. Said 
 she'd walk about down there." 
 
 Again Frank and Inza glanced at each other, and 
 then both of them glanced toward the door, which 
 remained open. From the point where they had stood 
 by the window the he id of the stairway could be seen. 
 The same thought came to each of them. 
 
 "Frank," said the dark-eyed girl, "go right down 
 and find Elsie. Bring her up here at once." 
 
 "I'll do it!" he exclaimed, springing through the 
 doorway, without pausing to take a hat. 
 
 Down the stairs he bounded, out into the court he 
 rushed; and there, bareheaded and eager, he looked 
 around for Elsie. 
 
 She was not to be seen. From the court he rushed 
 out through the gate to the campus, where the light 
 fall of snow had been trodden by hundreds of feet. 
 
 A little group of fellows lingered by the fence, some 
 with the collars of their coats turned up, some with
 
 Elsie's Strange Flight 261 
 
 their hands thrust deep into their pockets, some with 
 overcoats buttoned about them. Their heads were 
 close together, and they were talking earnestly about 
 some topic of deep interest. A few students were 
 hurrying across the campus, their appearance seeming 
 to indicate that they were making haste to reach their 
 rooms and pack up that they might get away for the 
 holidays. But nowhere could Merry see a thing of 
 Elsie. 
 
 "Where the dickens could she have gone ?" he mut- 
 tered. "I wonder if she saw us from the stairs!" 
 
 He was seized by a feeling of guilt and a sensation 
 of wrong-doing. Something told him the time had 
 come when he must choose between Inza and Elsie, 
 and that he could not longer entertain more than 
 friendly relations with both of the girls. The thought 
 that Elsie had seen him with Inza by the window, and 
 had fled, her heart throbbing with pain, made him 
 desperate and wretched. 
 
 "I must find her !" he muttered hoarsely. "Not even 
 for the memory of old times should I have permitted 
 what happened to-day! Elsie! Elsie!" 
 
 He seized by the arm a hurrying student and asked 
 if he had seen anything of a young lady without es- 
 cort. No such person had been seen by the one ques- 
 tioned. Then Merry went straight to the group by 
 the fence. Yes, one of them had seen Badger and 
 the two girls go over to Vanderbilt, and then, a few 
 moments later, had seen one of the girls hurry away 
 alone.
 
 262 Elsie's Strange Flight. 
 
 "Which way did she go?" asked Frank, repressing 
 his eagerness so that he attracted no particular atten- 
 tion by his manner. Being told, he hurried over to 
 the street. A few cabs and trucks were there. In a 
 moment Merry had learned that such a girl as he de- 
 scribed was seen taking a cab a few minutes before. 
 
 "She's gone!" he huskily muttered, as he turned 
 back. "I must find out where she is stopping, and 
 I'll call on her without delay. The time has come 
 for me to choose and make my choice known. I'll 
 do it!" 
 
 When he again entered his rooms, he found Inza 
 had taken Buck and Winnie into the study, where all 
 were chatting with Frank's friends who had gathered 
 there. 
 
 Merry lost little time in drawing Buck aside and 
 asking where Elsie was stopping, explaining that he 
 had not found her. 
 
 Buck did not know, nor did Winnie, who told how 
 she had corresponded with Elsie, who had been in New 
 York, thus informing her when she would arrive in 
 New Haven. Elsie had called soon after their ar- 
 rival, and the trio had set out for a visit to Merry. 
 
 "But she is coming to my house to dinner this eve- 
 ning," Winnie explained. "You may see her then, 
 for I want you to be there, Frank. You'll come?" 
 
 Of course Merry accepted the invitation. Winnie 
 added that it was to be a little party of college friends, 
 and that Inza would likewise be present. 
 
 Frank glanced toward the dark-haired girl, dis-
 
 Elsie's Strange Flight. 263 
 
 covering that she was engaged in earnest conversation 
 with Starbright, the big fellow standing in an atti- 
 tude of absorbed attention, while his blue eyes de- 
 voured her with an expression of intense admiration 
 in their honest depths. Winnie noted Frank's look, 
 and she pinched his arm, whispering: 
 
 "That looks very, very bad for you. She told 
 me he is your friend, and I invited him to dinner to- 
 night. If you're still sweet on Inza you want to be 
 careful that your friend Richard Starbright doesn't 
 cut in and take her away from you. He is just the 
 sort of fellow a dark-eyed girl like Inza is liable to 
 get struck on." 
 
 Again that strange pang of jealousy smote through 
 Frank Merriwell's heart, but he calmly said : 
 
 "I do not believe Inza could find a finer fellow in the 
 whole wide world."
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 A DINNER-PARTY. 
 
 That evening a jolly party gathered at the home of 
 Fairfax Lee, Winnie's father. Browning, Hodge, 
 Starbright, Dashleigh, and Merriwell were there. 
 Winnie and Inza, together with two girl friends, 
 sought to entertain them. But one person was miss- 
 ing; and in vain they waited for Elsie Bellwood, who 
 did not come. 
 
 Frank tried to conceal the agitated state of his feel- 
 ings as best he could, and he succeeded so well that 
 the others enjoyed themselves. Not till dinner-time 
 came and passed and it was impossible to wait longer 
 did Merry give up hope of Elsie's arrival. At last he 
 whispered to Winnie, telling her that it was useless to 
 wait longer, and they went down to the dining-room, 
 which was beautifully decorated with flowers and col- 
 lege flags and trophies. 
 
 Badger sat at the head of the table, and his beautiful 
 little wife smiled at him from the foot. Inza was 
 iplaced between Frank and Dick Starbright, Winnie 
 having slyly whispered to Merry that he would have 
 a fair chance to hold his own against the big fresh- 
 man. 
 
 Winnie's girl friends fell to Browning and Dash- 
 leigh. Bert was the soul of ease and politeness, but
 
 A Dinner-party. 265 
 
 big, lumbering Bruce was restless and awkward, al- 
 though he did his best to be entertaining. 
 
 Bart Hodge, alone, did not seem to enter fully and 
 heartily into the spirit of the occasion, though it was 
 evident that he did his best to make Badger and Win- 
 nie feel that all old animosities had been buried and 
 forgotten. 
 
 In course of time the little party grew very merry, 
 chatting of things that interested them, from football, 
 baseball, rowing, and kindred sports, to ranch life and 
 the glorious freedom of the plains and mountains. 
 Badger was supremely happy. He seemed to radiate 
 good nature. 
 
 "Look here, Hodge!" he exclaimed, suddenly sha- 
 king his finger at Bart, "be careful down there ! That's 
 my wife! You and I have tried to lift each other's 
 scalps before this, but I'm willing to bury the hatchet 
 if you don't flirt too hard with Mrs. Badger." 
 
 Hodge started a little, but Buck broke into a hearty 
 laugh, and Bart smiled a little. 
 
 "Don't mind him," said Winnie. "I suppose you'll 
 marry, Mr. Hodge, when the golden opportunity of- 
 fers, won't you?" 
 
 "Well," answered Bart deliberately, "that will de- 
 pend on how much gold there is in the opportunity." 
 
 "Oh, you mercenary wretch !" Winnie gasped, while 
 Frank stared, wondering to hear Hodge crack a joke. 
 
 Browning was heard saying to the girl at his side: 
 
 "I wonder why it is that the most beautiful girls are 
 the stupid ones?"
 
 266 A Dinner-party. 
 
 "Sir!" she exclaimed, giving him a cutting look; 
 "am I to understand that you desire to cast reflections 
 on my mental capacity?" 
 
 "Oh, no!" gasped the big fellow, wishing to put 
 himself right in her eyes; "I think you are one of the 
 brightest girls I ever met." 
 
 Then, realizing he had said the wrong thing, and 
 could never straighten it out, he hemmed and hawed 
 and nearly exploded in consternation and confusion, 
 causing the entire party to break into a shout of 
 laughter. As the merriment subsided, the jolly girl 
 exclaimed : 
 
 "You flatter me, sir! After all, though, beauty is 
 but skin-deep." 
 
 "Just so," gurgled Bruce, "but just think what a 
 host of girls there are who haven't it half that deep." 
 
 "That lets you out, Browning," said Merry. "You 
 were in so deep that I thought you'd go under sure." 
 
 "The trouble with me," explained the lazy giant, "is 
 that I'm bothered with sleepless nights, and I some- 
 times talk in my sleep daytimes. Now, what is a good 
 thing for sleeplessness?'* 
 
 "A shotgun," replied Badger. 
 
 "Shotgun?" 
 
 "Yes. I was troubled that way till I shot five or 
 six cats. Now I am completely cured." 
 
 "What troubles me more than anything else," put 
 in Dashleigh, "is thoughts of the coming exams. It's 
 a constant horror to me." 
 
 "Do the questions bother you?" asked Badger.
 
 A Dinner-party. 267 
 
 "Oh, no!" declared Bert. "The questions are quite 
 clear. It's the answers that bother me." 
 
 They could not restrain their laughter, for Dash- 
 leigh had said this in a most mirth-provoking manner. 
 
 So, with joking and laughter, the feast progressed; 
 but for Frank the one person who would have made 
 the occasion a perfect one was absent; and, although 
 he tried to conceal the fact, his thoughts were turning 
 to Elsie. At length Inza spoke of her. 
 
 "Why do you suppose she is not here, Frank?" she 
 asked, in a low tone, under cover of the chatter of 
 conversation. "I do not understand it." 
 
 "I'm afraid," confessed Frank, "that she has been 
 hurt or offended by something." 
 
 "How?" whispered the dark-eyed girl. "I don't 
 understand " 
 
 "You know she ran up-stairs ahead of Buck and 
 Winnie." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And one of the doors to my rooms was open." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "We were in that room, looking at some pictures 
 by the window." 
 
 "And she saw us; that may be true," said Inza. 
 "She is a sensitive little soul. Frank, you must find 
 her you must bring her to me. She is somewhere in 
 New Haven. Find her to-night. Just because we 
 happened to be speaking of the past, which is gone for- 
 ever, is no reason why we should make Elsie unhappy.
 
 268 A Dinner-party. 
 
 I'll give her cause for happiness, Frank. Bring her 
 to me." 
 
 "I will !" he exclaimed, with suppressed earnestness. 
 "I'll make my excuses and leave as soon as dinner is 
 over." 
 
 Badger was on his feet, making a speech in his 
 blunt, straightforward way. He extolled Yale and 
 Frank Merriwell. He spoke of the grand victories 
 of the eleven under command of Merry. Then he 
 told how much he owed to the friendship and influence 
 of Merriwell, till, at last, Frank laughingly entreated 
 him to stop. 
 
 "Well, I'll stop," said Buck, "but I want everybody 
 here to drink with me to the health of Frank Merri- 
 well, the squarest, whitest, manliest man that ever 
 lived!" 
 
 The glasses had been filled with punch, and they all 
 rose to drink the toast. Frank bowed his thanks, 
 feeling his face grow warm, despite the fact that he 
 had seen much of the world and been greeted with 
 applause and admiration in many places. 
 
 "My friends," he said, "nothing could touch me 
 more than such a tribute of esteem from a Yale man, 
 one who has been an open and honorable foe in the 
 past and is now just as enthusiastic in his friendship 
 toward me. From the lips of any other man the com- 
 pliment could not mean as much." 
 
 "When Buck says a thing he means it," declared 
 Winnie, with a look of admiration toward her hus- 
 band.
 
 A Dinner-party. 269 
 
 Then Merry made a brief speech, in which he re- 
 ferred to the days of toil and struggle and ambition at 
 college happy days, now nearly over for him. 
 
 "One of the greatest and proudest achievements," 
 he asserted, "something I prize above all things, is the 
 fact that I have made here at Yale so many stanch, 
 true friends." 
 
 When dinner was over, they returned to the parlor, 
 where Dashleigh tuned up his mandolin, and there 
 were music and singing and a good time generally. 
 Winnie sat down to the piano, and the others gathered 
 round. The old college songs were sung one after an- 
 other, Starbright joining in with his magnificent bass 
 voice. 
 
 Frank had excused himself to Winnie, telling her 
 why he was going to leave, and, in the midst of the 
 singing, he went out quietly with Buck, who helped 
 him on with his coat in the hall, gave him a hearty 
 hand-clasp, and wished him luck in his search for 
 Elsie. 
 
 As he was about to leave, Merry glanced back on 
 the happy party in the parlor. He saw Starbright 
 bending over Inza to look through some music, saw 
 her smile up at him when he said something in a low 
 tone; and, with this picture in his mind, he went out 
 into the frosty December night.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 FRANK MERRIWELL/S HEART. 
 
 Frank's quest for Elsie was vain, but he found she 
 had been stopping at one of the hotels. Her name 
 was on the register. When he asked for her, however, 
 he was informed that she had left that day. The clerk 
 could not tell him whither she had gone, save that 
 her trunk had beer, taken to the railway-station. But 
 this was enough to make him feel certain she had left 
 New Haven. 
 
 There was a pain in Frank's heart when he turned 
 toward his rooms in Vanderbilt. Quite alone, he 
 paused by the fence. There were lights all about 
 him in the windows of the college buildings. A few- 
 were dark and unlighted, but it was the gleam of 
 the lighted ones that gave him a feeling of sadness and 
 desolation. He knew many of the students had started 
 for their homes that night, while to-morrow there 
 would be a grand exodus. Going home ! The thought 
 thrilled the vibrating chords of his heart. He had no 
 home to which he could go. 
 
 The sky was thickly studded with stars, gazing 
 down upon him like a million gleaming eyes. He 
 leaned on the fence and gazed up at them, and he 
 fancied they gave him their sympathy.
 
 Frank Merriwell's Heart. 271 
 
 "Elsie!" he murmured; "where are you? Why did 
 you leave me without a word?" 
 
 Many, many times, he had lingered there at the 
 fence, with stanch, true friends about him. It was 
 there he had discussed football, baseball, sports of all 
 kinds, and talked over the gossip of the college. Now 
 he was alone! 
 
 Finally he turned toward Vanderbilt and climbed 
 the stairs to his room. This was his only home, but 
 now it seemed lonely and deserted. 
 
 He lighted the gas in his study and stood there 
 looking around. It was a pleasant room, yet the time 
 was approaching when it would know him no more. 
 The walls were adorned with pictures, flags, photo- 
 graphs, and the many curios he had gathered in his 
 wanderings about the world. His desk was standing 
 open, the pigeonholes stuffed with the various things 
 which were of value to him alone. There were papers 
 and letters upon it. Before it stood the office chair, 
 with an easy rocker close at hand. 
 
 In a window alcove was a long, easy seat, piled 
 with cushions. Over the window in big white letters 
 was the word, "Yale." Magic word, dear to the heart 
 of every loyal lover of Old Eli ! Near the window 
 was the well-filled bookcase, containing many well- 
 thumbed volumes. Through the portieres he could look 
 into the adjoining room and see the square table on 
 which lay the photographs he had inspected in com- 
 pany with Inza.
 
 272 Frank Merriwell's Heart. 
 
 Frank sat down in the rocker and fell to thinking 
 of many things, but his mind would always revert to 
 Elsie and her strange and hurried flight from New 
 Haven. 
 
 "The time has come!" he finally exclaimed. "This 
 is my last year at college, and soon I must go out into 
 the world for myself. I must choose between Elsie 
 and Inza. Perhaps I have done wrong not to choose 
 before, but the friendship of both girls has been very 
 dear to me." 
 
 He paced the room, his mind filled with thoughts 
 of both the charming girls. He saw before him Elsie's 
 sweet, smiling face, crowned with golden curls, he felt 
 the touch of her soft, sympathetic hand, heard the 
 music of her voice, and his heart yearned for her. 
 Then came Inza dark-eyed, dark-haired, dashing, 
 handsome, self-possessed, and magnetic. He felt the 
 spell of her powerful influence, and it seemed that she 
 was trying to crowd gentle, modest Elsie out of his 
 heart. 
 
 Then he remembered her as he had last seen her, 
 smiling up into the face of Dick Starbright. He 
 shrugged his broad shoulders and continued to pace 
 the room. There was a knock on the door, and a 
 messenger-boy stood outside. 
 
 "Been here twice before, sir," said the boy. "Lady 
 said I must give the letter to yer to-night, sure." 
 
 Frank took it and gave the boy a quarter. Then, 
 having closed the door, as the messenger had said 
 there would be no reply, he hastened to tear open the
 
 Frank Merriwell's Heart. 273 
 
 envelope. His fingers trembled a little and his heart 
 pounded violently in his throat. He saw his name 
 written on the envelope. 
 
 "From Elsie!" he murmured hoarsely. The mes- 
 sage was brief, and this is what he read : 
 
 "DEAR FRANK: I know you will think it strange 
 that I changed my mind so suddenly about seeing you, 
 and have left New Haven. I meant to come to you 
 and tell you that in the future we were to be nothing 
 but friends, but my heart failed me at the last mo- 
 ment. Not because I changed my mind on that point, 
 but because I knew it would be very unpleasant for us 
 both. I have been contemplating this for some time, 
 as I have a very good reason for it. I know you do 
 not care to claim me as anything more than a friend, 
 if such a tie would be obnoxious to me. Good-by, 
 Frank ! I wish you all the happiness you deserve, and 
 that is all the world can give you. I shall write to 
 Inza. ELSIE/' 
 
 He stood and stared at the writing for a long time, 
 now and then lifting a hand to brush back his hair. 
 He read it over and over, seeking to discover a hid- 
 den meaning in the words. Finally he crushed the 
 sheet of paper in one hand and flung it from him. 
 
 "It is her choice!" he exclaimed. "I would not 
 force her to care for me against her will I could not 
 if I would! I believe I understand what is back of 
 this. She has met some one else for whom she cares 
 more than for me. She speaks of a closer tie than 
 mere friendship between us being obnoxious to her, 
 and there is no other explanation. All right, Elsie I
 
 274 Frank Merriweli's Heart. 
 
 I suppose it is as it should be. You wish me happi- 
 ness ! I'll have it with Inza !" 
 
 His mind was made up in that moment. Elsie 
 was thrust from his mental vision, and Inza, radiant 
 and beautiful, rose like a queen before him. 
 
 "Inza !" he murmured. "Perhaps it is best. You 
 you were the sweetheart of my boyhood days. Fate 
 must have intended you for me." 
 
 Up and down the room he strode, his breast heav- 
 ing, his cheeks flushed. 
 
 "Starbright," he laughed, "you'll have to stand 
 aside, old fellow ! I can't have you take her from me ! 
 You know, and I hardly think you'll object I'll find 
 her at your home, and, during these merry holidays, 
 I'll win her promise to be mine forever." 
 
 He fancied the struggle was over, and he flung 
 open his window to admit the cold night air. It 
 fanned his hot forehead, and he drank it in with long, 
 deep breaths. Leaning on the window-sill, he looked 
 out upon the campus, where a solitary student walked 
 hastily along, the frosty ground seeming to creak 
 and complain beneath his feet. 
 
 Then he turned back into the room, closing the 
 window. A moment he stood looking down at Elsie's 
 crumpled note. Suddenly a quiver ran over him, and 
 he stooped, picked up the paper, smoothed it out, and 
 thrust it into a pocket near his heart
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 DICK STARBRIGHT'S HOME. 
 
 On the southeastern shore of Seneca Lake, not 
 many miles from the little village of Burdett, stood 
 the handsome home of the Starbrights. Old Captain 
 Starbright had purchased this splendid country place, 
 intending to settle down there some time, far from 
 sight and sound of the grim and restless ocean, to 
 spend the latter part of his life in peace and quietude. 
 But his dream of peaceful old age in the bosom of his 
 family had never been realized, for he died in the cabin 
 of his vessel far from his native land. Gossip said 
 he drank himself to death. 
 
 However, he had made a comfortable fortune, and 
 the home he left to his widow and children was an 
 ideal one. He had enlarged and remodeled the old 
 country house till it was regarded by the neighbors 
 as a veritable palace. He had spent large sums on the 
 surrounding grounds, and his landscape gardening 
 was the wonder and awe of the plain people of that 
 section of the country. Not a few of them declared 
 he was determined to bankrupt himself by his foolish 
 extravagance in these matters; but the result of his 
 labors was pleasing to the eye, to say the least. 
 
 The homestead was situated on a hill that sloped 
 gently westward to the shore of the lake, where the
 
 276 Dick Starbright's Home. 
 
 captain built a handsome boat-house. From Watkins, 
 on the south, to Geneva, on the north, Seneca Lake is 
 fifty miles long, and there is plenty of yachting to be 
 had, for which purpose the old mariner purchased a 
 handsome sloop, and Dick had been taught to handle 
 her with the skill of a veteran. 
 
 There were rowboats and canoes, and both Dick and 
 his younger brother, Phil, had built up the muscles 
 of their arms and backs pulling at the oar and paddle. 
 But now the lake was frozen over from end to end 
 by the week of cold weather before the holidays, and 
 sailing and boating could not be enjoyed. There was 
 plenty of skating, however, and Phil had an ice-boat, 
 which he had constructed with his own hands. 
 
 Dick's mother was a handsome, kind-faced lady, re- 
 fined and sad in her manner, although her face could 
 light up with a smile that was like a golden sunburst. 
 She was very proud of her two boys, and of big, 
 manly Dick in particular. He was so much like her 
 husband as she had known him in his younger days. 
 Yes, Dick was like him in many respects, yet she could 
 see that he was finer-grained, for the old sailor had 
 been somewhat blunt and bluff in his ways. 
 
 No wonder Dick was finer-grained, for it were im- 
 possible for him to be otherwise with such a mother. 
 Her influence had been over him always, and she was 
 to him the type of perfect womanhood. She liked to 
 think of him as like her husband in his youthful days, 
 and yet that thought brought to her sometimes one 
 great fear.
 
 Dick Starbright's Home. 277 
 
 Captain Starbright had been beset by one great 
 weakness his love for strong drink. All his life he 
 had fought against it, but it had conquered him at 
 last and cut short his days. The one great fear that 
 haunted Dick's mother was that some time her elder 
 son might fall beneath the ban of intemperance; but 
 from the time little Dick knelt at her knee to lisp his 
 bedtime prayers she had sought to instil in his mind 
 a loathing and repulsion for the demon of strong 
 drink. 
 
 Phil Starbright regarded his brother as just about 
 "the proper thing" in every way. Phil was slenderer 
 and more like his mother, and Dick seemed to him a 
 marvel of strength, courage, and energy. At school 
 there had never been a fellow who could whip Dick, 
 and whenever Phil was in trouble Dick could easily 
 and readily be summoned to help him out. 
 
 Phil, also, was fitting for Yale. At Andover he 
 had read with breathless interest the accounts of the 
 Yale football-games in which Dick had taken part; 
 and his pride swelled and grew when report after re- 
 port told of the marvelous playing of the young fresh- 
 man giant who was known as the protege of Frank 
 Merriwell. 
 
 Frank Merriwell! Phil had heard of him many 
 times before Dick went to Yale; he had talked of him 
 to Dick, and he had longed to see the most famous 
 college man in the country. When Dick wrote to Phil, 
 telling of his meeting with Merriwell and how kind
 
 278 Dick Starbright's Home. 
 
 Merriwell had been to him, the younger brother felt 
 like turning somersaults and yelling with joy. 
 
 And then, just before the holidays, Phil received a 
 letter, in which Dick said he had invited Merriwell and 
 a number of his friends to spend a portion of the vaca- 
 tion at the Starbright home, which invitation had been 
 accepted. Phil came near having a fit. At last he 
 would see Frank Merriwell! The day that he had 
 dreamed of was coming ! 
 
 With a bounding, eager heart the Andover lad 
 packed up and started for home, for he could get off 
 a day sooner than Dick, and he wished to have every- 
 thing ready to receive his brother's guests in the proper 
 manner. 
 
 Thus it came about that Merry, Browning, Ready, 
 and Dashleigh were warmly welcomed at the fine old 
 country place on Seneca Lake. And Phil's heart 
 ceased to beat for a moment when Frank Merriwell 
 pressed his hand and said he was glad to know Dick's 
 brother. 
 
 Mrs. Starbright was so happy that the sad look 
 had fled from her face, and she quickly made them all 
 feel quite at home. 
 
 "You must blame Dick for bringing such a crowd 
 along, Mrs. Starbright," said Merry. "He would make 
 us come." 
 
 "And I am very, very glad he did," she earnestly 
 declared, in a way that left no doubt of her sincerity. 
 "He has written me about all of you, particularly of 
 you, Mr. Merriwell. I think I've hardly ever received
 
 Dick Starbright's Home. 279 
 
 a letter from him in which he has not made some ref- 
 erence to you. You were very kind to him, and I 
 have much to thank you for." 
 
 "And I," said Ready, "I have been very kind to 
 him, also. He will tell you how I have entertained 
 him as a sophomore should entertain a freshman. 
 Oh, I have labored with him many a night." 
 
 "Thank you, too," she said, "for helping him nights 
 with his studies. I am sure I appreciate it, Mr. 
 Ready." 
 
 "With his studies!" gasped Jack, taking care she 
 did not hear. "Oh, my! Wouldn't that kill you! 
 Think of a sophomore helping a freshman with his 
 studies! I've helped him do a jolly turn at Billie's; 
 I've marched him about the campus in his pajamas, 
 and I've trained him through the streets with his left 
 trousers leg rolled to the knee and a broom on his 
 shoulder for a gun ; but helped him with his studies 
 oh, Laura!" 
 
 "But these are not all, mother," laughed Dick. 
 "There are more coming. To-morrow two young 
 ladies and two gentlemen will arrive. One of the gen- 
 tlemen is the father of one of the young ladies, while 
 the other gentleman is the husband of the other young 
 lady. The old house will be filled, and we won't do 
 a thing!" 
 
 "I think we'll be able to find room for everybody," 
 she said. "The holidays are to be very happy for me, 
 I'm sure." 
 
 "I hope she's provided plenty of fodder for the
 
 280 Dick Starbright's Home. 
 
 herd," whispered Ready to Browning. "I'm hollow 
 as as your head." 
 
 "Now, don't try to get funny at my expense," 
 warned the big senior. "I'm hungry myself, and I 
 don't feel like being made a fool of." 
 
 "It would be hard to improve on what nature did 
 for you in that respect," murmured the irrepressible 
 sophomore. 
 
 The boys were shown up to large, pleasant rooms, 
 which had been prepared for them. Frank and Bruce 
 were given a room together, but there were two old- 
 fashioned beds in it, and it opened into another and 
 smaller room that was designated for Ready. 
 
 "Thank goodness!" said Jack, when he found he 
 was to have a room by himself. "I'll not have to 
 sleep in the same apartment with Browning. If I 
 did, by the gods of Olympus! I'd get a clothes-pin 
 and place it straddle of his nose to keep him from 
 snoring. His snore is one of the most frightful things 
 I ever encountered. Yea, verily! I know, for I've 
 listened to it in the stilly hours of many an awful 
 night, and it has filled me with despair and an intense 
 desire to do murder." 
 
 "Oh, shut up and get into your own quarters!" 
 growled Bruce. "Your mouth must be tired. It's 
 been going yawp! yawp! yawp! ever since we left 
 New Haven. You're the worst case of talk-and-say- 
 nothing I ever knew." 
 
 "Refuse me !" chirped Ready, bowing low. "I hap-
 
 Dick Starbright's Home. 281 
 
 pened to be built that way. It soothes my nerves to 
 work my jaw." 
 
 "But it tears up the nerves of everybody within 
 hearing," declared Bruce. 
 
 "Well, here we are, fellows," said Frank cheerfully. 
 "Starbright has a splendid home and a beautiful 
 mother. I'm glad I came." 
 
 "Wait till I get down to the supper-table and I'll tell 
 you better whether I'm glad or not," said Jack. "I 
 wonder if they've really got enough for us to eat. 
 Even a railroad sandwich would have no terrors for 
 me now."
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 A BI LLI ARD- M AT C H . 
 
 Winnie and Inza, with Buck and Mr. Burrage, ar- 
 rived the following day and found an enthusiastic lot 
 of young men there at the Starbright homestead. 
 Frank was the first to meet Inza, and he gave her 
 hand a warm pressure, while telling her how glad 
 he was that she had come. 
 
 "We'll have a glorious time here," he declared. 
 "The finest old place in all New York! A billiard- 
 room, a bowling-alley, a regular gymnasium oh, but 
 old Captain Starbright knew how to lay out his money 
 to make an ideal home! And Dick's mother one of 
 the gentlest mothers in the world. She'll make you 
 welcome, you may be sure." 
 
 She did; she took the girls to her heart and said 
 those things which only a woman like her would 
 know how to say to make them feel how glad she 
 was to see them. In a moment they were at their 
 ease. 
 
 She shook hands with Buck and Mr. Burrage. 
 Something she said to the young Westerner, giving 
 Winnie a glance, brought the color to Buck's face 
 and made him throw back his shoulders and look very 
 proud. 
 
 Browning, with his hunger abated, smoking a pipe,
 
 A Billiard-match. 283 
 
 was comfortable and at his ease; but not even the 
 sating of Ready's hunger had toned him down. He 
 was the same happy-go-lucky, talkative, joking chap. 
 
 "The happy family has assembled at last," he pro- 
 claimed. "We're all here, Mrs. Starbright, and now 
 we'll proceed to eat you out of house and home. Oh, 
 we'll have a good time reducing you to poverty ! My ! 
 my! but I'm glad I came. Badger, you should have 
 seen the old-fashioned plum pudding we had for sup- 
 per last night. It was a peach ! But I only got about 
 half of it before Browning annihilated the other half." 
 
 "Huah!" grunted Bruce. "Don't try so hard to be 
 funny." 
 
 "Oh," said Dashleigh, "some of Ready's jokes last 
 night were really and truly funny. They would have 
 made a donkey laugh. Why, I actually laughed till 
 I cried." 
 
 Then Bert grew furiously red when everybody 
 shouted, nor did his confusion abate when afterward 
 Ready seriously addressed him as "The Donkey." 
 
 Mrs. Starbright took charge of the girls. Mr. Bur- 
 rage was very weary and retired to his room for a 
 brief rest. After washing his face and hands and 
 brushing his clothes, Buck was ready to be shown 
 about the place, and Dick took charge of him. 
 
 That afternoon Dick challenged Frank to a game 
 of billiards, and the party assembled in the billiard- 
 room to witness the match. 
 
 "Oh, Richard, my boy, you are up against the real 
 thing now," chirped Ready. "Going to play a hun-
 
 284 A Billiard-match. 
 
 dred points, eight-inch balk? He'll beat you fifty 
 points, or I'll eat my hat! But you should see me 
 play! I'm the bird at that game. Why, I've often 
 run two points without stopping." 
 
 "I'll tell you what," laughed Starbright, his eyes 
 flashing, "let's play for something to make it interest- 
 ing. Will you do it?" 
 
 "Well, say a thousand dollars," suggested Ready 
 carelessly. "I'll offer that sum as a purse. It's a mere 
 nothing to me." 
 
 "I do not mean that we are to bet on the game," 
 explained Dick. "But if there were a prize of some 
 sort " 
 
 He paused and looked at Inza. 
 
 "Can't you suggest something?" he asked. 
 
 She smiled back at him, and then, roguishly, she 
 said : 
 
 "Oh, I might suggest something if it would be 
 worth struggling for." 
 
 "Name it!" cried Frank and Dick in a breath. 
 
 "To-morrow we are to have a sleighing-party." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, I will go in the sleigh of the one who wins 
 this match. Wliat do you say to that?" 
 
 There was a brief pause, then both fellows cried : 
 
 "Done!" 
 
 "Oh, say!" cried Ready; "let me into this! With 
 such a prize in view, I can wipe you both off the 
 map! Give me a cue." 
 
 "Your cue is to keep quiet," rumbled Browning,
 
 A Billiard-match. 285 
 
 who was seated in a big, easy chair, placidly looking 
 on. 
 
 The balk-lines were freshly drawn, Frank was 
 given his choice of cues, and then the contestants pre- 
 pared to "string" for the start. 
 
 "Frank," murmured Dick, "I'm going to beat you 
 if it is in me. You will have to play your best. I 
 give you fair warning." 
 
 "All right," Merry nodded. "It is a battle to the 
 finish." 
 
 They sent the ivories rolling down the table to re- 
 bound from the lower cushion and come gently back, 
 side by side. All waited anxiously for the balls to 
 stop. They rolled up to the head cushion, against 
 which they lodged and "froze." 
 
 "Tie," declared Bruce. "You'll have to try it over." 
 
 They did so, and on the second trial Dick obtained 
 a slight advantage, which gave him the lead. Frank 
 was wondering just how skilful his antagonist would 
 prove to be, and he watched closely the manner in 
 which Starbright made his first shots. 
 
 Dick studied the positions of the balls a moment, 
 and then made a skilful draw that brought them to- 
 gether in a group. Immediately, Merry understood 
 that he had no easy task before him. He saw on 
 Dick's face a look of resolution and determination, and 
 he knew the big freshman would play as if for his 
 very life. 
 
 "He means to win the privilege of having Inza in 
 his sleigh if he can," thought Frank. "That's plain
 
 286 A Billiard-match. 
 
 enough. A careless stroke or the least let up on my 
 part may mean defeat." 
 
 He knew now that he must be on his mettle to the 
 very finish. Glancing toward Inza, he saw her dark 
 eyes fastened on Dick, and she was watching the play 
 with breathless interest that seemed anxiety. 
 
 "Is it possible she wishes him to win ?" Frank asked 
 himself. "It almost seems so. If I thought it, he 
 should win, even were I able to defeat him." 
 
 But his heart rebelled against the thought, and again 
 he resolved to play the match at his best. 
 
 Having the balls together, Starbright proceeded to 
 nurse them in a skilful manner, running thirteen 
 points, and then missing an easy masse. 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Inza, with a catch of her breath. 
 "You stopped at thirteen! That's an unlucky num- 
 ber." 
 
 Then, in a moment, she laughed merrily, warning 
 Frank to take care to make as many as thirteen. 
 
 Merry started in. Fortunately, the ivories lay well 
 for him, and he ran off point after point with care 
 and still with swiftness till he had made thirty-one. 
 Then he missed on an effort to gather them in a 
 corner. 
 
 "That is thirteen turned round," he laughed; "but 
 it may be just as unlucky." 
 
 "I'd rather take my chances on it," declared Dick. 
 
 Starbright seemed to have the balls in a good posi- 
 tion, and again he began playing with care too much 
 care, perhaps, for he missed with his third shot.
 
 A Billiard-match. 287 
 
 "Oh!" again came from Inza's lips. "I don't be- 
 lieve you're even going to make it interesting." 
 
 "I'm afraid not," admitted Dick, with a tone of 
 the utmost regret. "But you may be sure I shall do 
 my best." 
 
 Frank ran seventeen more points before missing, 
 making him forty-eight in all, while Dick had only 
 fifteen. 
 
 There was a look of grim determination on Dick's 
 face as he began again. 
 
 "Get into the game and make a touch-down," urged 
 Ready. "What are we paying our money for! With 
 such a prize in view, I could run a hundred feet. 
 Oh, you should see me dally with the ivories! It is a 
 sight to make the gods weep." 
 
 Dick took pains. He studied his shots, and got the 
 balls across the line at one corner and worked them 
 there with great skill, beginning to pile up point after 
 point. His playing brought applause, Merry giving 
 it as readily and honestly as the others. 
 
 Ten twenty points he ran without a break. It was 
 a grand exhibition of skill. Inza was watching with 
 intense earnestness, and again Merry fancied she 
 might be anxious for Dick to win. Then, at a critical 
 point, came a miscue, and Dick's run came to an end 
 with him just three points behind Frank. 
 
 "You gave me a shock, then," confessed Merry, as 
 he made ready to play. "You had 'em going, and I 
 didn't know that you were ever going to stop."
 
 288 A Billiard-match. 
 
 "It was my opportunity," declared Starbright re- 
 gretfully. "If I had not made that miscue!" 
 
 "That's the way in this world," philosophized 
 Ready. "Just as we have the balls rolling our way 
 and everything looks bright and radiant, we slip a cog 
 and fall down with a slam. It's sad and disgusting, 
 but true alas!" 
 
 "Will somebody be good enough to smother him," 
 mumbled Browning. "Makes me think of Dismal 
 Jones." ^ 
 
 "Ha! ha!" laughed Jack, with his old flippant air. 
 "Refuse me! Let's be merry. Why does a chicken 
 cross the road? Don't hit me! My ringers are 
 crossed." 
 
 Frank had seen enough to know now that Starbright 
 was a brilliant billiard-player, and more than ever he 
 was determined to do his level best. Nevertheless, 
 Merry was somewhat rusty, and thus it happened that 
 he missed his fifth shot. 
 
 "Now's your chance, Dick!" exclaimed Dashleigh, 
 who was acting as marker. "You can get the lead 
 right here." 
 
 The shot was a very hard one. 
 
 "You can't make that, Starbright," asserted Brown- 
 ing. "I don't believe it can be made." 
 
 "Oh, there is a way to make any shot on the table," 
 Frank asserted. 
 
 But Dick was not so sure of succeeding in this case. 
 He took great pains, and succeeded. It was a hand-
 
 A Billiard-match. 289 
 
 some shot, and Merriwell gave a cry of admiration 
 and approval. 
 
 "That reminds me of my playing," murmured 
 Ready. "It is so different, you know." 
 
 Inza gave Dick a smile of admiring approval, which 
 did not escape Frank's keen eyes. But the balls re- 
 mained separated, and Starbright's success and the 
 applause that had greeted the feat seemed to rattle 
 the big freshman, so that he missed the very next shot. 
 
 "I must get them together and .hold them," thought 
 Frank. "No fancy playing in this. The fellow might 
 run forty or fifty any minute, and that would be my 
 Waterloo." 
 
 However, his effort to bring the balls together 
 caused him to miss the very first attempt, and left the 
 ivories for Starbright, everything being favorable. 
 
 Thinking of the prize for which they were contend- 
 ing had made Dick nervous, despite the fact that he 
 had always fancied his nerves were like iron. The 
 glances he had received from Inza had added to his 
 nervousness, so that he discovered his hand was sha- 
 king a trifle. 
 
 Immediately he braced up, not wishing any one to 
 discover that he was in that condition. He was de- 
 liberate in his movements, though inwardly eager and 
 in haste. 
 
 The first shot attempted was made by a rank 
 scratch, although he made no sign that he had not 
 tried for it in that manner. Instead of rattling him 
 more, the shock of getting the point after he thought
 
 290 A Billiard-match. 
 
 he had missed it served to steady his nerves. He 
 looked toward Inza as he came round the table. Their 
 eyes met, and he fancied she was urging him to do 
 his best. 
 
 "I will!" he resolved. "I am going to win! I'll 
 beat Frank Merriwell at something!" 
 
 Dick's brother was looking on with breathless in- 
 terest, being more excited than the big college man, 
 if possible. He longed for Dick to come off victor, 
 yet fancied such a thing could not happen, with Frank 
 Merriwell for an opponent. 
 
 That look from Inza aided in giving Starbright 
 courage. He swung into the work with remarkable 
 skill, making another beautiful run, reeling off point 
 after point. 
 
 Phil Starbright could scarcely keep still. He wanted 
 to dance and shout when Dick passed Frank and took 
 the lead. Browning looked on in amazed silence, 
 while Ready gasped: 
 
 "What's this? what's this? I fear me much the re- 
 sult is to be a surprise. Be still, my fluttering heart, 
 be still!" 
 
 "I believe Mr. Starbright is going to beat Frank!" 
 whispered Winnie to Buck. 
 
 "None whatever !" returned the Westerner. "Don't 
 get that idea into your head, girl. I've seen Frank 
 Merriwell before, and he's never beaten till the game 
 is ended. He has nerves, while the big fellow is un- 
 steady and liable to go into the air any minute. You 
 hear me !"
 
 A Billiard-match. 291 
 
 Starbright ran eighteen points, which gave him a 
 lead of twelve. 
 
 "Now, Merry, old man," urged Buck, "get into 
 gear and do your pretty work. We know you're a bit 
 out of practise, but just show us how you can play 
 at any old game when you have to play." 
 
 Not a word did Frank say, though he smiled faintly 
 at Badger. He began by making three difficult shots, 
 the third one bunching the balls. Then he played in 
 splended form till he had added nineteen to the three, 
 making a run of twenty-two, which turned the tables 
 on Starbright, leaving Merry ten in the lead. 
 
 Dick missed his first effort, and Frank was given 
 the balls again. He sought to get them together for 
 a run, and the attempt caused him to fail to count with 
 his second shot. 
 
 "You want only eleven to tie, Dick!" palpitated 
 Phil. "You can get 'em. I've known you to run 
 thirty." 
 
 Once more Starbright tried to steady his nerves and 
 play with the coolness that was a feature of Merri- 
 well's work. Somehow that coolness made the big 
 fellow feel sure that under ordinary circumstances 
 Frank would completely outrank him at billiards. But 
 the prize lured Starbright to do his best. That Christ- 
 mas sleigh-ride with Inza was something worth work- 
 ing for. 
 
 Click, click, click the big freshman tapped off the 
 points, Dashleigh counting the buttons as he slid them 
 along the wire. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven
 
 292 A Billiard-match. 
 
 ha ! at last the ivories rolled hard and lay in an ex- 
 tremely difficult position. \ 
 
 Pausing to study the shot, Dick heard Badger 
 whisper to Winnie that he must surely miss. 
 
 "I won't miss!" he mentally cried. 
 
 Then, with his utmost skill and nerve, he played a 
 cushion-carom shot and counted. 
 
 "Good!" exclaimed Frank, promptly leading the 
 applause. 
 
 Dick wiped the perspiration from his face. Not 
 even the strain and thrill and excitement of a football- 
 game could set his nerves on edge like this. 
 
 Inza's laugh caused him to thrill with pleasure. 
 
 "She's glad I made it!" he told himself. "Now I 
 know I'm going to win!" 
 
 Having succeeded at that critical point, Dick soon 
 brought the balls together, astonishing himself by his 
 skill in this respect. Never before had he made so 
 many hard shots with absolute confidence, and the 
 witnesses of his work were breathless with suspense. 
 
 "He is going to win!" breathed Winnie, clutching 
 Buck's arm. 
 
 "Don't you believe it!" returned the Westerner 
 stiffly. "Frank won't let him win." 
 
 Ten points, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five no, he 
 failed on the twenty-fifth. 
 
 "Eighty-eight points to Merry's seventy-five," an- 
 nounced Dashleigh. "You're just thirteen ahead, 
 Dick."
 
 A Billiard-match. 293 
 
 "Thirteen?" exclaimed the freshman, with a start 
 of annoyance. 
 
 'The fatal number again!" exclaimed Inza, but she 
 laughed. 
 
 "Here's where you have to do it, if you're going to 
 do it at all, Merry," said Browning. "Twelve more 
 points lets Starbright out, and you'll ride with me to- 
 morrow, instead of with Inza." 
 
 Frank needed twenty-five, and he started in to 
 make them, but the balls persisted in running hard, 
 despite his greatest care. Time after time he came 
 near missing, but not till he had scored ninety-four 
 buttons in all did he fail to count. 
 
 "Hard luck!" growled Browning. 
 
 "Now, Dick!" cried Phil; "this is your chance, and 
 you must do the trick." 
 
 Starbright did not dare to glance toward Inza again ; 
 but, fancying she was watching him and wishing for 
 his success, he began the task of trying to run out. 
 
 The first shot was a close shave, the cue-ball barely 
 brushing one of the object balls. Indeed, Browning 
 fancied Dick had missed, but Frank promptly declared 
 he had plainly seen the shot, and it was a fair count. 
 Dick thanked him and proceeded with the play. How- 
 ever, he was extremely anxious and excited, and his 
 anxiety increased as he passed ninety, crept up to 
 ninety-five and then found himself drawing close onto 
 the end of the string. 
 
 The silence was intense. Indeed, it was so great
 
 294 A Billiard-match. 
 
 that it began to oppress Dick, and he longed for the 
 spectators to talk, laugh, or do something. He was 
 tingling from his head to his heels. 
 
 Ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight only two 
 points to make. 
 
 "I told you!" whispered Winnie to Buck, in disap- 
 pointment. "He has beaten Frank!" 
 
 "Not yet!" returned the unshaken Kansan. "If he 
 beats Merry, he'll be the first galoot to do the trick in 
 a long time. He won't!" 
 
 Ninety-nine ! 
 
 One point more to be made ! 
 
 "Nobody can beat Frank Merriwell !" huskily whis- 
 pered Buck to his wife. "He'll miss this shot, and 
 Merry will win." 
 
 The silence was so great that Starbright heard 
 Badger's words just as he was on the point of trying 
 to score the final button. He was struck with the con- 
 viction that he must miss that it would be a marvel 
 for him to defeat Frank Merriwell. 
 
 He missed ! 
 
 "Well," said Merriwell quietly, as deep breaths were 
 heard on every side, "you made a handsome try for 
 it, and that was a case of hard luck. I've got to make 
 six, and I may slip up on doing that." 
 
 Starbright's failure at the critical point left him 
 shaking all over. His last faint hope was that Merry 
 might fail, but Frank played with care, precision, and 
 coolness, and slowly but surely scored the six points 
 he needed, winning the match.
 
 A Billiard-match. 295 
 
 "Miss Burrage," cried Frank, "remember your 
 promise." 
 
 Her merry laugh rang out. 
 
 "I'll not forget it," she said ; "but there was a time 
 when I thought I'd surely ride with Dick." 
 
 That laugh cut Starbright, for it seemed full of sat- 
 isfaction and relief. 
 
 "I guess it's all right!" he thought "She wanted 
 to ride with him all the time, and she thought he'd 
 beat me more than he did. She is glad I lost !"
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 BOWLING. 
 
 A merry Christmas it was there at Starbright's. 
 The sleighing-party was enjoyed by all who took part, 
 and never had Inza seemed merrier and brighter than 
 on that occasion. She laughed, and sang, and joked ; 
 but Frank observed that she was not in the least senti- 
 mental, and she took pains to turn the conversation 
 into another channel when it approached a dangerous 
 point. She seemed to enjoy talking of Dick, his home, 
 and his beautiful mother. Somehow these thoughts 
 did not please Merry, but he betrayed nothing of the 
 sort, and he spoke words of highest enthusiasm about 
 Starbright. 
 
 The dinner-party that night was one never to be for- 
 gotten. The table was decorated with flowers and 
 evergreens, the lights were softened and shaded, and 
 Jack Ready declared the turkey was a "feast for the 
 woozy old gods." 
 
 Ready came out with a new batch of jokes, some of 
 them fresh and some "wearing whiskers." Merriwell 
 made a happy speech, and Browning ate till his raven- 
 ous hunger was completely satisfied. 
 
 Then there was singing and music and a good time 
 generally. There was no Christmas tree, but the sur- 
 prise came in the form of a table-load of presents
 
 Bowling. 297 
 
 found in a room to which all were finally invited by 
 Mrs. Starbright. Everybody had been remembered, 
 and all declared they received just what they wanted 
 more than anything else in the world, which probably 
 was an exaggeration in many instances. 
 
 On entering the room, Frank had observed a bit 
 of mistletoe suspended from the chandelier. At last, 
 Inza innocently paused directly beneath it, and, in a 
 moment, Merry had her in his arms, claiming the 
 privilege of a kiss. 
 
 But Dick had been equally observant, and he was 
 on hand at the same instant. Quick as a flash, she 
 held them both off, laughing merrily. 
 
 The others shouted and told her she could not es- 
 cape paying the forfeit. 
 
 "But what am I to do?" she asked, blushing crim- 
 son. "Both these rude chaps seized me at the same 
 moment, and both claim they were first." 
 
 "Oh, but I'm slow !" exclaimed Ready. "Why didn't 
 I have my eyes open and get into that? It was ever 
 thus! I'm getting to be a retired number." 
 
 "I don't see but you'll have to surrender to both, 
 Inza," laughed Winnie. 
 
 "Oh, I can't do that," she protested. "They must 
 settle it between them somehow. Till they do, let both 
 keep their distance." 
 
 Then she skipped away from them, leaving them 
 standing there, face to face. Dick looked straight into 
 Frank's eyes, smiling a bit, but there was a challenge
 
 298 Bowling. 
 
 in his aspect and look. More than ever Merry realized 
 that this big, fair-haired youth was a rival at whom 
 it were folly to scoff. 
 
 "How shall we settle it?" asked Merriwell pleas- 
 antly. "I'll let you name the manner, Dick." 
 
 "Another game of billiards," suggested Ready. 
 "That's the trick ! Ah ! it takes me to solve these little 
 difficulties. I'm a handy chap to have round." 
 
 "No," said Starbright. "I have another way." 
 
 "Name it," urged Merry. 
 
 "We'll bowl a string of candlepins. The one who 
 makes the highest score wins the privilege given by the 
 mistletoe." 
 
 "Done!" 
 
 Winnie clapped her hands and Inza laughed. 
 
 "To the bowling-alley!" cried Ready, with a flour- 
 ish. "I'll be pin-boy, and every little candle shall be 
 on its post to a fraction of an inch. Forward the 
 Light Brigade! Charge for the pins!" 
 
 So down to the alley in the basement of the house 
 they went. The lights were turned on by Phil, and 
 soon everything was ready for this second match be- 
 tween Frank and Dick. 
 
 The entire house was heated by steam, and the spec- 
 tators could look on in comfort. The alley was regu- 
 lation length, well built, well kept, and handsomely 
 polished. 
 
 It fell to Frank to lead off. He examined the balls, 
 finding them all of a size and in fine condition. 
 
 "I am going to beat you at this, Merry," asserted
 
 Bowling, 299 
 
 Dick. "I know you are too much for me at billiards, 
 but I'm better at this business." 
 
 "That being the case," smiled Merry, "I must take 
 care to begin strong and hold out. Here goes." 
 
 He sent the first ball skimming down the alley, and 
 it cracked into the pins, striking them fairly in the 
 center and splitting them, taking out three, which left 
 four standing on one side and three on the other. 
 
 "Oh, Laura!" exclaimed Ready, from his position 
 beside the pins. "This doesn't look much like a strong 
 start. Seven soldiers will be good work for that 
 break." 
 
 "Look out for that hole, Frank," warned Browning. 
 "Keep away from it" 
 
 Merry obeyed the injunction to the letter, and he 
 swept off the group of four pins with his second 
 ball, leaving three standing. 
 
 "That's clever," nodded Dick. "Let's see if you can 
 clean them up." 
 
 With moderate speed, Frank sent down a curve 
 for the little line of pins, but he barely missed the head 
 one, clipping off the last two. 
 
 "Nine for Merriwell in his first box," announced 
 Dashleigh, who had been selected to keep the score. 
 
 Ready set the pins up with care, while Starbright 
 prepared for his first effort. He stood on .the left side 
 of the runway, took a slow start, and sent a swift ball 
 into the bunch of pins, striking them on the quarter 
 and tearing them up as if they had been hit by a cy- 
 clone. Only the head pin was left standing.
 
 300 Bowling. 
 
 "Refuse me!" gasped Ready. "It's dangerous 
 down here. Oh, but that was a soaker! Methinks I 
 smell a spare." 
 
 He was right, for Dick drove the second ball 
 straight and true at the single pin, which went flying 
 against the padded end of the alley with a sodden 
 thump. 
 
 "Spare in the first box for Starbright !" cried Dash- 
 leigh, in great delight. "It's your turn now, Dick! 
 He did you at billiards, but this is different." 
 
 "This is only the beginning," smiled Dick. "I'm 
 not liable to keep that work up right along." 
 
 "I should hope not!" exclaimed Frank. 
 
 Frank came up for the second box, trying a wide 
 curve, which missed the head pin and swept down one 
 side of the bunch. His second ball was sent straight 
 down the middle of the alley, but it took a slight shoot 
 just before hitting the pins and left two standing, 
 one on the center ana one on the corner. 
 
 "Spares are scarce on this side," he smiled, appar- 
 ently not a bit disturbed 
 
 "Hard luck!" growled Browning. 
 
 "No," said Merry, "poor bowling." 
 
 Instead of trying to get just one of the two pins 
 left, he used a curve to the right for a billiard-shot, 
 hoping to make them both, but the head pin was 
 missed by a fraction of an inch, and neither fell. 
 
 "Eight pins," cried Dashleigh. "Seventeen in all." 
 
 "Starbright is bound to have a big start," said Bad- 
 ger. "In this kind of a game, every pin counts."
 
 Bowling. 301 
 
 "Don't forget this first ball counts on your spare, 
 Dick," warned Dashleigh. 
 
 Dick did not forget. He whistled the ball down 
 the alley, struck the pins prettily, and tore down six 
 of them. 
 
 "That gives him sixteen in his first box," said Bert. 
 "And he has a splendid chance for another spare." 
 
 Dick took the chance, too, for he got into the pins 
 finely, cleaning the alley, which caused the spectators 
 to utter cries of applause. 
 
 "This is hot!" muttered Frank. "You seem to be 
 keeping it up, old man." 
 
 "He's making me lots of work," observed Ready, 
 as he deftly stood the fallen pins on the spot. 
 
 Frank changed his position on the alley, but again 
 he split the pins, leaving two standing, one on each 
 corner. 
 
 "No spare there!" cried Dashleigh. 
 
 "No poor bowling in that," growled Bruce. "It 
 should have been a strike." 
 
 Frank clipped off the two remaining pins with two 
 straight balls, which gave him ten in his third box, 
 making twenty-seven in all. 
 
 Starbright got into the bunch again, but secured 
 only five on his spare, which left the pins in a diffi- 
 cult position. He did well in raking down nine with 
 three balls; but his lead on Frank was great, the sec- 
 ond spare having given him thirty-one in the second 
 box, and on even rolls with Merry he had forty. 
 
 "Up against the real thing now," chirped Ready.
 
 302 Bowling. 
 
 "This Starbright has played the game before, my 
 friends. You're buncoed, Merriwell." 
 
 On his next roll Frank was able to make but nine 
 pins, obtaining a total of thirty-six, while Starbright 
 cleaned the alley, which gave him a lead of fourteen 
 pins. 
 
 Merry had been trying different kinds of balls and 
 different positions on the alley, seeking to discover 
 just where he could do his best work. Now he opened 
 with a cross-ball, which struck the bunch on the quar- 
 ter and swept them down clatteringly. A shout went 
 up, for it was seen that but one pin remained standing, 
 and that one was tottering and swaying. 
 
 "Go down, you scoundrel!" roared Browning. 
 
 But it refused to obey the command, settling into 
 position. 
 
 "Robbery !" declared Starbright. "You should have 
 had it, Frank. All the same" with a quick glance 
 at Inza "I'm very glad you didn't get it." 
 
 Merry made no complaint, but sent the next ball true 
 as a bullet from a gun, clipping down the pin and 
 making a spare. 
 
 "Here's where you gain," said Browning. 
 
 But Starbright seemed on his mettle, and he pro- 
 ceeded to duplicate Merry's performance, making a 
 particularly difficult spare. 
 
 "He refuses to let me overtake him!" exclaimed 
 Frank. 
 
 "Gentlemen," cried Ready, "have you no pity for
 
 Bowling. 303 
 
 a poor working boy? Please leave a few standing 
 once in a while!" 
 
 Frank had decided that the cross-ball was the one 
 to use, and now he made ready to get all he could 
 on his spare. There was a hush as he picked up the 
 first ball and sent it spinning anglewise down the 
 alley. 
 
 Crash clatter ! 
 
 "Seven pins!" shouted Ready. 
 
 "Good work!" muttered Browning. 
 
 But the remaining pins were left in such a way that 
 it seemed impossible to get them all with a single ball. 
 Frank studied them a moment and did his best, but his 
 best left one standing. This one he removed with 
 the third ball. 
 
 "Fifty-three on your half," said Dashleigh. "Sixty- 
 three in your sixth box." 
 
 Starbright struck the head pin too full, which cut 
 out four, leaving standing two wings of three pins 
 each. 
 
 "Four pins with his spare ball," said Bert. "Sixty- 
 four on his half. That's all right." 
 
 "But Frank gained three pins there," murmured 
 Inza. 
 
 "Frank will win," asserted Badger, speaking so low 
 that Dick could not hear. "I tell you he can't be 
 beaten ! That's whatever !" 
 
 "But he has a hard task before him," whispered 
 Winnie. "Mr. Starbright is a wonderful bowler."
 
 304 Bowling. 
 
 Dick took pains and smashed down one of the 
 standing wings with his second ball. His third, how- 
 ever, left a pin standing, and Frank had gained an- 
 other. 
 
 In the sixth box Starbright had seventy-three, with 
 Merriwell just ten pins behind him. 
 
 By this time Frank had the range of the alley, and 
 now he sent a strike-ball tearing into the pins, mowing 
 them all down in a twinkling. 
 
 "I knew it!" said Browning, with intense satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 "Oh, mercy!" whooped Ready. "Did you ever in 
 your life! Wasn't that a bird!" 
 
 "Here is where he gets right into it," said Buck 
 to Winnie. "I knew he would." 
 
 But Starbright was not shaken in the least, and he 
 came near duplicating Merry's feat, for, with his 
 first ball, he smashed down every pin but one. 
 
 "Now, that was genuine hard luck!" exclaimed 
 Frank sincerely. "That ball was just as good as 
 mine, but the pins did not happen to fall just right." 
 
 Dick looked grim and determined, and he went for 
 the single pin, getting it easily, which gave him a 
 spare. 
 
 "You may get as many with your spare as he does 
 with his strike," said Dashleigh, encouragingly. 
 
 "But I'd rather have the strike," confessed Dick. 
 
 Frank cut only two pins out of the bunch with his 
 first ball, and it began to look bad for him; but he 
 placed the second ball perfectly, sweeping off all the
 
 Bowling. 305 
 
 remaining pins but one, which gave him a score of 
 nineteen in his seventh box, the total being eighty-two. 
 He knocked down the last pin with his third ball, 
 which added ten more for his eighth box. 
 
 Strangely enough, Starbright did precisely the same 
 thing with all three balls, getting only two on his 
 spare, which left Merriwell but three points behind 
 in the seventh and eighth boxes. 
 
 "This is too close for comfort, Dick," palpitated 
 Dashleigh. "You have let him come right up on you. 
 You must hold your lead in the last two boxes." 
 
 Frank was in fine fettle. He had a "good eye," and 
 his hand was steady, while his aim was perfect. Again 
 he put a ball into the heart of the bunch, striking the 
 head pin on the quarter, and again he cleaned the alley. 
 
 "Wow!" whooped Ready, dancing about. 
 "Wouldn't I cut a cake of ice in this game! My! 
 My! I don't know a thing about bowling!" 
 
 "It's the first time in all your life that you ever 
 told the truth," flung back Browning. 
 
 "Frank will win!" murmured Inza, and somehow 
 Winnie fancied that she seemed disappointed. 
 
 Starbright did not smile now. His strong, hand- 
 some face looked grim and resolute. He sent a 
 straight, true ball shooting down the alley, and, like 
 a flash, every pin was swept off clean. Then what 
 a shout went up ! Both had made a strike in the ninth ! 
 
 Dashleigh leaped to his feet and danced with joy, 
 while Phil wished to hug his big brother.
 
 306 Bowling. 
 
 "He'll keep his lead now!" declared Bert to Phil. 
 "Don't you fear about that!" 
 
 Merry was not smiling. He knew that overconfi- 
 dence might prove a great mistake, and yet he was de- 
 termined to win if possible. However, his first ball 
 slipped from his fingers and barely knocked down a 
 single pin on the corner. 
 
 Dashleigh wanted to whoop again, while Browning 
 felt like thumping somebody. Only Buck Badger re- 
 mained perfectly unshaken in his belief that Merriwell 
 could not fail to win. 
 
 Frank was deliberate in his movements, and he 
 placed the next ball to a fraction of an inch. The 
 result was the complete collapse of the pins and a 
 spare for him in his last box ! 
 
 Dashleigh's heart went into his boots, while Phil 
 Starbright simply sat down on a bench, gasping. 
 
 "Twenty in the ninth; one hundred and twelve 
 total," said Bert huskily. "I'm afraid that does the 
 trick!" 
 
 The pins were up, and Starbright prepared for the 
 last effort. His first ball brought everybody to his or 
 her toes, for it went straight and true into the proper 
 place, and down crashed nine pins. 
 
 "Hooray !" yelled Phil, leaping up. "He's going to 
 do the same thing! He'll get a spare, too!" 
 
 But now Starbright found himself shaking a bit. 
 In this respect he lacked Merriwell's nerve, for Frank 
 was always the coolest and steadiest when the critical 
 moment came.
 
 Bowling. 307 
 
 "I must do it !" thought Dick, but in his heart there 
 was a faint fear that he might fail. He sent the ball 
 straight toward the pin, and several cried : 
 
 "He's got it!" 
 
 But the ball curved the least bit, brushed the pin, 
 caused it to move off the spot at least half an inch, 
 but left it standing. 
 
 Dashleigh collapsed and seemed disheartened until 
 he made a sudden discovery. 
 
 "Hold on!" he shouted. "Merriwell has but one 
 ball left! He should have rolled that one off before 
 Dick. There is a bare chance left if Dick gets that 
 last pin." 
 
 "I fail to see it," grunted Browning. 
 
 "Why, it's plain enough," declared Bert. "Frank 
 has one hundred and twelve in his ninth box, hasn't 
 he?" 
 
 "Sure." 
 
 "And he s made ten with two balls." 
 
 "Right." 
 
 "That ten goes into the last box, together with what 
 he gets on the next ball." 
 
 "Correct." 
 
 "What if he gets only one? He'll have one hun- 
 dred and twenty-three. Dick has that already. If'' 
 Dick gets that pin, Merriwell must have two to tie I 
 and three to win. It often happens that a man doesn't 
 get but one or two on one ball. Get that pin, Dick !" 
 
 Dick got it, making his total score one hundred 
 and twenty-four.
 
 308 Bowling. 
 
 "That's enough to win any bowling-match," mut- 
 tered Phil. 
 
 "Any but this one," said Badger. "You'll see that 
 Merriwell is a hard man to beat. I found it out some 
 months ago." 
 
 Frank now took up his last ball and sent it at the 
 pins which Ready had placed on the spots. It struck 
 them, sent them whirling and crashing, and left but 
 a single pin standing. 
 
 "That does it," admitted Dashleigh, at last. "He 
 makes one hundred and thirty-one." 
 
 This is the score kept by Bert : 
 
 MERR 
 
 9 
 8 
 10 
 9 
 17 
 
 IO 
 
 19 
 
 IO 
 20 
 19 
 
 IWKI,!,. 
 
 I 
 
 STARS 
 16 
 
 RIGHT. 
 
 16 
 
 31 
 
 40 
 50 
 64 
 
 73 
 
 85 
 95 
 114 
 
 124 
 
 17 
 
 2 
 
 ..!"> 
 
 27. . 
 
 . "?. . 
 
 ,. o 
 
 36 
 
 4. . 
 
 10 
 
 S3- 
 
 5. . 
 
 
 63 
 
 6 
 
 . 
 
 82 
 
 . 7. . 
 
 
 Q2. ., 
 
 8 
 
 IO 
 
 112 
 
 . o. .. 
 
 
 131.. 
 
 ..10... 
 
 ..IO 
 
 Total 131 Total 124 
 
 Frank had won the privilege he sought to claim be- 
 neath the mistletoe.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 DEFEAT AND SUCCESS. 
 
 Indoor sports were not the only kind enjoyed at 
 Starbright's. There was skating on the lake, and Phil 
 took them out for a spin over the ice on his ice-boat. 
 The day after Christmas, however, an accident hap- 
 pened that made the girls afraid of the ice. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that, even in the coldest 
 weather, any large body of water that is frozen over 
 has weak or open spots in the ice; "breathing-holes" 
 they are sometimes called. 
 
 In this respect Seneca Lake was like other lakes, 
 and so it chanced that, skating together, with hands 
 clasped, Inza and Winnie struck one of those places. 
 Before they could turn about, the ice broke beneath 
 their feet and they found themselves struggling in the 
 chilling water. 
 
 Several of the fellows were skating near-by, and 
 they were startled and horrified by the shriek that 
 came from the girls as they broke through. In a mo- 
 ment, every youth was dashing toward the spot. 
 
 Starbright was nearest. His heart sprang into his 
 throat, for he realized the terrible peril of the girls, 
 knowing they were liable to clasp each other about 
 their necks and go down immediately. 
 
 Frank was only a short distance behind Dick, but
 
 Defeat and Success. 
 
 Starbright reached the spot first. As he came up, 
 he saw Inza's head disappear beneath the surface, and 
 straight into the water he plunged, clutching at her 
 in the wild hope that he might be successful. 
 
 Fortunately, Dick was able to grasp Inza before 
 she sank beyond his reach, and he dragged her back 
 to the surface. Then the others came up. 
 
 Badger was there almost as soon as Frank, and they 
 pulled Winnie out on to the solid ice. Immediately 
 Merry turned his attention to Inza. 
 
 "Take her!" Starbright chattered. "Get her out 
 quick, Merriwell! I thought she was gone!" 
 
 "Guess she would have been if you hadn't plunged 
 in after her as you did," said Frank. 
 
 The ice was solid close to the dangerous spot, so 
 there was little trouble in drawing Inza out, after 
 which Starbright was helped from the water. 
 
 Then the girls, wrapped in the coats which the boys 
 stripped off and threw about them, were hurried away 
 to the house, where they were doctored and given 
 warm drinks and placed in bed. 
 
 Some hours later, when the boys were all together 
 again, Winnie and Inza appeared and thanked their 
 rescuers. Frank observed that Inza first went straight 
 to Dick, giving him her hand. 
 
 "I thought I was gone," she said. "I was stunned 
 when I went into the water, and I couldn't seem to do 
 a thing to help myself, though I knew I was sinking. 
 Then I felt a strong hand grasp me, and you pulled 
 me back to the surface. I know I owe my life to you !"
 
 Defeat and Success. 311 
 
 Dick's face was crimson, and his heart thrilled as 
 she gave his ringers a warm pressure, looking straight 
 into his blue eyes. 
 
 "We all did what we could," he stammered. "Frank 
 was on hand to pull you out." 
 
 "But Starbright was the only one who really saved 
 you," said Merry, with perfect generosity. "There 
 can be no doubt of that." 
 
 After a little time, he slipped away unobserved and 
 retired to his room, in the solitude of which he sat a 
 long time, pondering over the things that had hap- 
 pened since his arrival at the home of the Starbrights. 
 Once more in his heart throbbed the pain of loneliness 
 that had seized him in his room the night he received 
 the brief message from Elsie. 
 
 "I will delay no longer," he finally murmured. "I'll 
 seek Inza, and come to an understanding with her." 
 
 Then he went down-stairs, having first looked into 
 the billiard-room, where Ready and Dashleigh were 
 indulging in a game. In the library Browning was 
 stretched on a Morris chair, reading a book. Through 
 the house Frank searched, but he found nothing of 
 Inza till, at last, he heard the crash of falling pins in 
 the basement. 
 
 "They are bowling," he said, and descended the 
 stairs. 
 
 Dick and Inza were there. He had been instruct- 
 ing her in bowling, and neither of them heard Frank, 
 who paused on the stairs.
 
 312 Defeat and Success. 
 
 "It was just too bad he beat you!" Inza was say- 
 ing. "I don't believe he could do it again." 
 
 "I don't know about that," laughed the big fellow. 
 "But I don't think I ever wanted to win anything more 
 in all my life than I did that string of candlepms." 
 
 "Did you?" she murmured, idly marking on the 
 score-board. 
 
 "I did !" he declared, getting close to her and watch- 
 ing her write. "And I've felt ever since that I was 
 robbed of something." 
 
 "Perhaps," she murmured "perhaps somebody else 
 wished you to win." 
 
 "You?" he breathed, all atremble "did you wish 
 that Inza?" 
 
 "Perhaps so." 
 
 "I didn't know I thought you might want Frank 
 to beat me. What are you writing my name?" 
 
 "Yes and mine." 
 
 Having written her own name beneath Dick's, she 
 began to strike out such letters as she could find in 
 both names. He watched her with interest. 
 
 "Let's see," he said, "how it is done? You take the 
 letters that are left, and how do you say it?" 
 
 "Love, hate, marriage; love, hate, marriage," she 
 explained. 
 
 "There are seven letters left in my name," he de- 
 clared. "It's love for me, and never anything in this 
 world came truer!" 
 
 His voice betrayed his emotion.
 
 Defeat and Success. 313 
 
 "There are four letters left in my name," said Inza, 
 her face turned from him. 
 
 "Love again!" exclaimed Dick softly. "Love for 
 both of us! Inza is it can it be true?" 
 
 "Didn't I say I was sorry Frank defeated you at 
 candlepins?" she murmured. 
 
 "By Heaven!" he hoarsely exclaimed; "he has not 
 defeated me after all. And I'll not be robbed of the 
 privilege the mistletoe gave me!" 
 
 Then he caught her in his strong arms and kissed 
 her. 
 
 THE END.
 
 "BEST OF ALL BOYS' BOOKS " 
 THE FAMOUS 
 
 Frank Merriwell Stories 
 
 By BURT L. STANDISH 
 
 No modern series of tales for boys and youths has 
 met with anything like the cordial reception and popu- 
 larity accorded to the Frank Merriwell Stories. 
 
 There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank 
 Merriwell, as portrayed by the author, is a jolly, whole- 
 souled, honest, courageous American lad, who appeals 
 to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad habits, and. 
 his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary- 
 for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank 
 Merriwell's example is a shining light for every ambitious 
 lad to follow. 
 
 Twenty-four volumes ready 
 
 Frank Merriwell's School Days Frank Merriwell's Skill 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Churns Frank Merriwell's Champions 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Foes Frank Merriwell's Return to Yale 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Trip West Frank Merriwell's Secret 
 
 Frank Merriwell Down South Frank Merriwell's Loyalty 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Bravery Frank Merriwell's Reward 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Races Frank Merriwell's Faith 
 Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour Frank Merriwell's Victories 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Sports Afield Frank Merriwell's Power 
 
 Frank Merriwell at Yale Frank Merriwell's Set-Back 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Courage Frank Merriwell's False Friend 
 
 Frank Merriwell's Daring Frank Merriwell's Brother 
 
 Illustrated, cloth binding, 5O cents per volume 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price 
 Dy 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 binding, 5O cents per volume 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price 
 by the publisher 
 
 DAVID McKAY, PhUadelphia 
 
 (2)
 
 BOYS OF LIBERTY LIBRARY 
 
 NEW SERIES of splendid tales of the wonderful and 
 stirring adventures of boys who fought in The Revolu- 
 tionary War, The French and Indian Wars, and Naval 
 Battles of 1812. 
 The stories are written in an intensely interesting style, and no 
 
 boy can read them without being aroused to the highest pitch of 
 
 patriotic enthusiasm. 
 
 We give herewith a list of titles now ready. Read the first and 
 
 you will want to read all the others. I2mo. Cloth, handsomely 
 
 bound. 
 
 PAUL REVERE. By John De Morgan. 
 
 THE FIRST SHOT FOR LIBERTY. By John De Morgan. 
 
 FOOLING THE ENEMY. By John De Morgan. 
 
 INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH. By John De Morgan. 
 
 THE HERO OF TICONDEROGA. By John De Morgan. 
 
 ON TO QUEBEC. By John De Morgan. 
 
 FIGHTING HAL. By John De Morgan. 
 
 MARION AND HIS MEN. By John D Morgan. 
 
 THE YOUNG AMBASSADOR. By John De Morgan. 
 
 THE YOUNG GUARDSMAN. By John De Morgan. 
 
 THE CRUISE OF THE LIVELY BEE. By John De Morgan. 
 
 THE TORY PLOT. By T. C. Harbaugh. 
 
 IN BUFF AND BLUE. By T. C. Harbaug h. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S YOUNG SPY. By T. C. Harbaugh. 
 
 UNDER GREENE'S BANNER. By T. C. Harbaugh. 
 
 FOR FREEDOM'S CAUSE. By T. C. Harbaugh. 
 
 CAPTAIN OF THE MINUTE MEN. By Harrie Irving Hancock. 
 
 THE QUAKER SPY. By Lieut. Lounsberry. 
 
 FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM. By Lieut. Lounsberry. 
 
 BY ORDER OF THE COLONEL. By Lieut. Lounsberry. 
 
 A CALL TO DUTY. By Lieut. Lounsberry. 
 
 IN GLORY'S VAN. By Lieut. Lounsberry. 
 
 THE TRADER'S CAPTIVE. By Lieut. Lounberry. 
 
 THE YOUNG PATRIOT. By Lieut. Lounsbrry. 
 
 "OLD PUT" THE PATRIOT. By Frederick A. Ober. 
 
 THE LEAGUE OF FIVE. By Commander Post. 
 
 THE KING'S MESSENGER. By Capt. Frank Ralph. 
 
 DASHING PAUL JONES. By Frank Sheridan. 
 
 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO COMMODORE. By Frank Sheridan. 
 
 THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. By Frank Sheridan. 
 
 LAND HERO OF i8u. By C. C. Hotchkis*. 
 
 FOLLOWING MAD ANTHONY. By T. C. Harbamgh. 
 
 THE YOUNG CAPTAINS. By T. C. Harbaugh. 
 
 CAMPAIGNING WITH BRADDOCK. By William Murray Graydon. 
 
 Price, 5O cents per volume 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price 
 by the publisher 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Philadelphia 
 
 (3)
 
 THE ROB RANGER SERIES 
 
 87 LIEUT. LIONEL LOUNSBERRY 
 
 A capital series showing what can be accomplished by a boy of ability and courage. 
 Rob ii a hero whose example of courage, homesty and manliness can be followed with 
 profit. Rob's horse, Silent Sam, and his dog Trumps, play an important part in the 
 series, and camnot fail to wim admiration and affection. No better stories for bright 
 healthy boys could well be imagined. 
 
 ROB RANGER'S MINE, or THE BOY WHO GOT THERE. By Lieut. 
 
 Lionel Lounsberry. 
 ROB RANGER THE YOUNG RANCHMAN, or GOING IT ALONE AT 
 
 LOST RIVER. By Lieut. Lioael LouDtberry. 
 ROB RANGER'S COWBOY DAYS, or THE YOUNG HUNTER OF THE 
 
 BIG HORN. By Lieut. Lioael Lounsberry. 
 
 Price, oO cents per volume 
 
 THE CIRCUS SERIES 
 
 BY 
 
 STANLEY NORRIS VICTOR ST. CLAIR 
 
 Where is there a boy who does not love a circus and who does not also love to take 
 a peep "behind the scenes" of the great white canvas? There are adventures galore, 
 enough to satisfy any healthy youngster. 
 
 PHIL THE SHOWMAN, or LIFE IN THE SAWDUST RING. By 
 
 Stanley Norris. 
 YOUNG SHOWMAN'S RIVALS, r UPS AND DOWNS OF THE ROAD. 
 
 By Stanley Norris. 
 YOUNG SHOWMAN'3 PLUCK, or AN UNKNOWN RIDER IN THE 
 
 RING. By Stanley Norris. 
 YOUNG SHOWMAN'S TRIUMPH, or A GRAND TOUR ON THE ROAD. 
 
 By Stanley Norris. 
 ZIG-ZAG, THE BOY CONJURER, or LIFE ON AND OFF THE STAGE. 
 
 By Victor St. Clair. 
 ZIP, THE ACROBAT, or THE OLD SHOWMAN'S SECRET. By Victor 
 
 St. Clair. 
 
 Price, 5O eents per volume 
 
 THE MATTHEW WHITE SERIES 
 
 These books are full of good, clean adventure, thrilling enough to please the full- 
 blooded wide-awake boy, yel containing nothing to which there can be any objection 
 from those who are careful as to the kind of books they put into the hands of the young. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG ATHLETE. A ory of how a boy saved his 
 
 father's ame amd furtume. 
 
 ERIC DANE. Imteresting experiences of a- boy of meas. 
 GUY HAMMERSLEY. Hew an energetic boy cleared bis name. 
 MY MYSTERIOUS FORTUNR. An extremely interesting story of a $200,000 
 
 check. 
 THE TOUR OF A PRIVATE CAR. Interestiag experiences of a young private 
 
 secretary. 
 
 THE YOUNG EDITOR. Experiences of a bright boy editing a weekly paper. 
 
 Price, 5O cents per volume 
 
 For sale by ail booksellers, or lent, postpaid, on receipt of price by the publisher 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Philadelphia 
 
 (4)
 
 The Famous Adventure Series 
 
 An ideal series of books for boys of all ages. The stories 
 are of the bright and sparkling kind, full of adventures on 
 land and sea and not over-burdened with lengthy descriptions ; 
 in fact, just the sort that must appeal to every healthy boy 
 who is fond of thrilling exploits and deeds of heroism. 
 
 The names of the authors give sufficient guarantee to their 
 merits. Among these may be mentioned Henry Harrison 
 Lewis, who is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, 
 and has written a great many books for boys. 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE GOLD COAST. By Frank 
 H. Converse. 
 
 An adventurous trip of New England boys to Africa. 
 
 CAMP IN THE SNOW. By Wm. Murray Graydon. 
 
 Boys' winter camp life in northern New England. 
 
 CENTREBOARD JIM. By Henry Harrison Lewis. 
 
 The secret of Sargasso Sea. 
 
 FROM LAKE TO WILDERNESS. By Wm. Murray 
 Graydon. 
 
 Adventures around the northern lakes. 
 
 HOW HE WON. By Brooks McCormick. 
 
 Triumphs of a plucky boy afloat and ashore. 
 
 IN SEARCH OF AN UNKNOWN RACE. By 
 Frank H. Converse. 
 
 A thrilling story of exploration in Brazil. 
 
 KING OF THE ISLAND. By Henry Harmon Lewis. 
 
 Strange adventures on a South Sea Island. 
 
 TOM HAVEN WITH THE WHITE SQUADRON. 
 By Lieut. James K. Orton. 
 
 The adventures of a young inventor of submarine boat. 
 
 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 
 
 (5)
 
 THE ANNAPOLIS SERIES 
 
 By ENSIGN CLARKE FITCH, U. S. N. 
 
 A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and 
 thoroughly familiar with all naval matters Mr. Fitch has 
 devoted himself to literature, and has written a series of 
 books for boys that every young American should read. His 
 stories are full of interesting information about the navy, 
 training ships, etc. 
 
 BOUND FOR ANNAPOLIS, or The Trials of a Sailor Boy. 
 CLIP, THE NAVAL CADET, or Exciting Days at Annapolis. 
 
 THE CRUISE OF THE TRAINING SHIP, or Clif Faraday's 
 Pluck. 
 
 FROM PORT TO PORT, or Clif Faraday in Many Waters. 
 A STRANGE CRUISE, or Clif Faraday's Yacht Chase. 
 
 Illustrated, cloth binding, 75 cents per volume 
 
 THE WEST POINT SERIES 
 
 By LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A. 
 
 Every American boy takes a keen interest in the affairs of 
 West Point. No more capable writer on this popular subject 
 could be found than Lieut. Garrison, who vividly describes 
 the life, adventures and unique incidents that have occurred 
 in that great institution in these famous West Point stories. 
 
 OFF FOR WEST POINT, or Mark Mallory's Struggle. 
 A CADET'S HONOR, or Mark Mallory's Heroism. 
 ON GUARD, or Mark Mallory's Celebration. 
 
 THE WEST POINT TREASURE, or Mark Mallory's Strange 
 Find. 
 
 THE WEST POINT RIVALS, or Mark Mallory's Strategem. 
 Illustrated, cloth binding, 75 cents per volume 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price 
 by the publisher 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Philadelphia 
 
 (6)
 
 A 000 034 437 4