Burt L. Standish

“ Will you promise to make good everything you have stolen, and never touch another thing that does not belong to you? More than that, will you agree to go personally to the fellows you have stolen these articles from and ask their forgiveness as you return them? You can pledge them to secrecy. If they keep your secret, you will be safe. It’s your only chance. What do you say to it?”
“I will do anything! I will show you I am in earnest by beginning now and exposing a plot to ruin you, Frank Merriwell!” ”

“ It was pretty certain Harvard would have an exceptionally strong team. The material to choose from was better than ever before, and Harvard was “making a brace” in all directions. Yale had won the last football game from Harvard more by the wonderful work of one man than by the superior strength of her eleven, and the Cambridge lads were thirsting for revenge.
The man who seemed to stand head and shoulders above all others in Yale sports and athletics was Frank Merriwell. ”

“ I will tell how you tried to frighten Hodge into giving up the attempt to make the nine. How you threatened to blow on him about the affair with the cop if he didn’t withdraw, and how he booted you out of Farnham Hall, as you deserved. How do you like that?”
“It won’t save Hodge,” muttered Noon, sullenly.
“Perhaps not; but it will cook you. How much show do you think you will stand when it is known that you resorted to such an expedient to get a rival out of the way? You will be branded as a sneak, and your friends will avoid you.” ”

“ The flesh of his arm, from which the sleeve was rolled back, was white as marble.
“Some of the fellows who have been croaking about your ‘dead wing’ will drop dead when they see you shoot ’em over,” said Hodge, his face glowing with enthusiasm and earnestness.
“There are always croakers, Bart,” said Frank, indifferently. “A fellow is a fool if he permits them to bother him.” ”

“ No wonder Frank was sick and numb. After a time he aroused himself and sat up.
A short line held the boat close under the stern of the black schooner, upon which he could see no sign of life.
“I might cast off and slip ashore without a soul on this vessel being the wiser,” he thought. “I could find the boys and bring them on board. What could we do then? There are, at least, four sailors. There are but four of us. It is a sure thing that the sailors are armed, and we are not. It’s more than even chances that they’d do us up in a square fight.” ”

“ Browning stretched his massive frame on the ground and puffed away in serene laziness.
“I’d like to stay right here the rest of my life and do nothing but eat and drink and sleep,” he grunted.
“You’d miss the ball games this spring,” said Diamond.
“Go to!” said the big fellow. “What are the ball games? A lot of fellows get up and bat a ball around, while another lot of fellows chase it. They run and whoop and throw the ball and get covered with perspiration. It is a most distressing spectacle. Ball games, indeed! Go to, I say—go to!”
“And the spring boat race—you’d miss that,” said Harry. ”

“ We should be friends——”
“Not by a long distance!” exclaimed Bart, contempt in his voice. “I know you now too well for that, Ned Noon! We can’t be friends.”
“Oh, have it as you like; but you’ll find it for your good not to make an enemy of me.”
Hodge uttered a scornful exclamation.
“Oh, you needn’t turn up your nose!” cried Noon; “for you’ll have to pull it down again. I see I’ve got to talk straight to you. You make me tired! For a freshman you put on too many airs. What I want to say is this: If it wasn’t for Merriwell’s influence, you would not have a ghost of a show to get on the nine. ”

“ The removal of “Babbitt’s” disguise revealed Charlie Creighton, who was convulsed with merriment.
“Well, fellows,” said Prof. Mower, “you turned the tables on us that time, and you did it in a hurry, or you would not have caught us.”
He pulled off his false beard, and Frank Merriwell was before them.
“You?” cried Browning. “I’ll wager something you put this job up.”
“Guilty,” laughed Frank.
“Boys,” thundered Bruce, “as punishment, we ought to hold him and turn a quart of that punch down his throat.”
“Mercy!” cried Frank. “Shoot me if I am to die, but do not torture me to death!” ”

“ Now Hodge was aroused, for Rattleton had touched him on a tender spot.
“You are wrong!” cried Bart, flushing. “No man walks all over Frank Merriwell. You never knew a fellow to get the best of Merriwell and hold his advantage. Frank is a fighter, and his worst enemies agree on that point, but he fights fair. He will not take an unfair advantage of his meanest and most sneaking enemies, and, for that very reason, the worst enemies he has respect him.” ”

“ Walbert, an Andover man, was a promising candidate; and Haggerty, who had come to Yale after being dropped at straight-laced little Williams for some thoughtless prank, was said to be a great “southpaw” twirler.
But what Yale wanted was steady, reliable material in which confidence could be placed. The new men might show up all right when the time came, but what if they did not? The “if” was in the way.
So baseball was the theme on this bright April day, and the enthusiasm which the game always arouses among the “cranks” was beginning to make itself manifest. ”

“ Harry urged Browning not to go back, for he saw Bruce was fearfully angry, and he realized that the big fellow might forget he was on the campus and strike Gooch or Billings.
They went to see Frank, and told him what Rattleton had heard. Merry looked grave and concerned, but he did not display the least anger.
“Hang it!” growled the big student. “Why don’t you get mad?”
“What’s the use?” said Merriwell. “I pity those chaps.”
“What?” shouted Browning and Rattleton, together.
“Yes,” said Frank, “I pity them. They hate me, and they suffer tortures because I have many friends and am popular. ”

“ Yale seldom loses at anything when Frank Merriwell is in the game. He seems to be Old Eli’s mascot.”
“Of cawse, it’s all beastly luck,” put in Paulding. “He doesn’t really have any more to do with it than any other good man would.”
“You may think as you like about that,” said Forrest, evasively; “but you must confess that he seems to bring Yale good luck. We thought she was a dead duck at football last fall, but he put new life and snap into the team, and Yale came out on top.”
“He can’t do that with the ball team,” said Gordan. “There’s where he’ll meet his Waterloo.” ”

“ O’Farrel, you have distinguished yourself by your courtly bearing, your utter fearlessness and your politeness to the ladies. You have been a bright and shining star on the New Haven force, shedding brilliant effulgence around you, so that, although in your modesty you were not aware of it, you were regarded with admiration and esteem by a large number of citizens. Whenever you were on night duty, the belated citizen who passed over your beat felt that he was safe, for he knew you were a terror to footpads. ”

“ The general feeling seemed to be that Yale’s nine was all to pieces.
The appearance of Merriwell in company with Phil Hardy caused a stir.
“There goes the lamb to the slaughter,” laughed Walter Gordan, who was in the midst of a little gathering of Merry’s old-time foes.
“Wouldn’t it be moah propah to say the cawfe?” drawled Willis Paulding, with a weak attempt at wit.
“Oh, he made himself a big gun by his work on the football team last fall,” said Pooler, with a grin of satisfaction; “but he’ll lose it all if he takes Hardy’s place on the nine.”
“He can’t get Hardy’s place,” said Walt Forrest. ”

“ I got Hodge on, and now I am going to have Browning.”
“Oh, come, Merry!” gasped Bruce. “I’ll do almost anything for you, but I can’t torture myself to work off flesh in a hurry. Besides, I could not get enough off to——”
“You can get off enough in ten days so you will be able to play ball all right. I want you for your batting. Batters count. You are a good hitter, and the team is weak at the bat. It’s no use, Bruce; I want you, and am going to have you. You must quit drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. You must go into training to-morrow, and you must work hard to get off superfluous flesh. ”

“ Frank Merriwell’s heart leaped into his mouth, for it seemed that the wheels of the cab must go over the policeman. With all his skill it did not seem possible Merry could avoid the man’s fallen body. ”

“ Nine men in a boat, eight of them working, working, working as if their lives depended on it. They strain every muscle, their faces are contorted with the agony of it, their eyes bulge with distress, their breasts heave as they try to breathe, and when the race is over some of them are like rags run through a wringer. ”

“ Down to first raced Varney. He was an exuberant fellow, and he flapped his long arms, like the wings of a rooster, and crowed hoarsely as he stood on the bag.
That caused another roar to go up. Coachers were on hand, and they began rattling off their talk as soon as the ball was returned to the pitcher.
Walbert tried to grin derisively, but there was a sick expression on his face.
Bruce Browning grunted.
“Another one like that will break his heart, Merriwell,” he said. “He may be a good man when things are going his way, but he can’t stand grief.” ”

“ Finch is a dandy, but what’s the matter with Merriwell?”
“He’s all right!” shouted the jolly lads on the railway station.
“You bet he is!” flung back the Yale men on the train. “Three cheers for Merriwell!”
“Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!”
Then the train drew out of the station.
It was one of those glorious hours that comes to every college lad who admires the manly game of baseball. And it seems remarkable that any live American boy with warm blood in his body can fail to love the game with all his soul. ”

“ Hodge took Rattleton’s arm, and Browning fell in behind, lazily observing:
“He’s in for it now. Escape is impossible.”
So they bore him away to a first-class restaurant, where they had a little private dining room all to themselves, and Merriwell ordered an elaborate spread, and they pitched into the food and ate like the hearty, hungry fellows they were.
As he ate, Harry’s heart warmed. Frank was jollier than ever before. He laughed and joked, he told stories that caused the others to shout with laughter. He was the prince of good fellows, that was sure. ”

“ Merry had decided, and the big fellow could not get out of it.
“I wouldn’t do it for any other man living,” declared the lazy student; “but I suppose I’ll have to for you. You are a perfect tyrant, anyway. What you say goes.”
“And what he says is right,” declared the confident Hodge.
“Then I will say right here,” spoke Frank, with quiet assurance, “that Yale will have a nine that will be the surprise of the season. We are going after that pennant, and Princeton and Harvard will have to hustle to win.”
Hodge nodded. He was thinking of Merriwell’s marvelous double-shoot. ”

“ O’Farrel told Frank.
“And you may lose half a month’s wages. That is tough.”
“Sure an’ it is!”
“Now, Mr. O’Farrel,” said Merry, in his most suave manner, “there is such a thing as a misfortune that is a blessing in disguise. You have no accident policy, and you need money. How would you feel if you were to receive during the time that you are idle a sum every week double your regular salary, besides having all your bills paid?” ”

“ If I fail, it won’t kill me. I know I am not the only cake of ice. There are others just as cool. Make a bluff at it, Hodge. It won’t hurt you to get left.”
“Perhaps not,” said Bart; but he felt in his heart that he would be cut keenly if he made a desperate try to get on the nine and some other fellow was chosen.
Browning sneezed and awoke.
“You’re catching cold, old man,” said Frank.
“No danger,” said Rattleton. “He’s too lazy to catch anything.”
“That’s got a long gray beard on it,” grunted Bruce, with an air of disgust. ”

“ Who is in right?”
“Tom Thornton.”
“Good man?”
“Pretty good. I’ve taken him for his batting. If he could play as well all round as he can bat, he’d be on the regulars.”
“Middle?”
“Jones.”
“What, the fellow you call Dismal?”
“Same.”
“Why, he’s too sad and slow to play ball!”
“Wait till you have seen him. He can wake up, and he’ll throw almost as well as Ephraim Gallup. If he gets a good chance, he’ll surprise somebody.”
“Who’s the left fielder?”
“Joe Gamp.”
Hodge gasped.
“That beats all!” he cried. “Why, that fellow is a regular blunder-heels. He can’t play marbles!” ”

“ Harry paused and listened. It was plain Billings had come to see Gooch, and found him in the lower hall.
“We could cook Merriwell if we came out and told all we know,” said the freshman. “That is just the evidence Rudge wants to prove that Merriwell was the leader of the attack on him. It would ruin the fellow’s college career.”
“But we can’t peach,” declared Gooch. “It would be the end of our college careers, too, for we’d be run out of Yale by the fellows who think Merriwell the only pebble on the beach. We’ve got to keep still and find some other way of getting at the chap we hate.” ”

“ Again the men in the pit dropped the pick and spade, but they seemed paralyzed with fear, and stood there, staring about with bulging eyes.
“Avaunt!” cried the hollow voice. “Flee from my wrath, or ye shall feel the touch of my dead hands—the touch of doom! That touch means death!”
A wild shriek broke from the lips of one of the diggers.
“I feel it!” he screamed. “He has touched me! I am a dead man! I am doomed!”
Then, shrieking with terror, he leaped out of the pit and fled.
That was enough to completely unman the others, and they lost no time in taking to their heels also. ”

“ Frank was talking plain. He believed it was necessary to talk thus to a fellow like Ned Noon. He felt that Noon could not be shamed into abandoning his plot against Hodge, but he might be brought to do so through fear.
Ned ground his teeth, for he began to realize that Merriwell was right in saying he could do so much. Frank had influence, and he would be believed.
“I am giving it to you straight, Noon,” said Merry. “Have a little reason. Do you want to knock yourself out just to down a rival? You say Hodge does not stand much of a show getting on the nine. ”

“ At sight of Frank, Elsie uttered a cry of amazement and joy, and nearly swooned. That cry aroused the men, but when they sat up one was astonished to find himself looking into the muzzle of a revolver, while the keen blade of a wicked-looking knife menaced the other.
They were so astonished that they were incapable of offering resistance, and were easily captured.
Capt. Bellwood’s story was simple, but interesting. Being a follower of the sea, it was not strange that he should acquire information purporting to reveal the whereabouts of Kidd’s buried gold. ”

“ If Yale does not win the pennant this year, Harvard will.”
Hodge was surprised, and he showed it; for, like others, he had regarded Princeton as Yale’s most dangerous rival. Never before had he heard Frank so freely express an opinion as to the situation.
Bart knew Frank well enough to feel confidence in his judgment on baseball.
“Where is Harvard’s strong point?” he asked.
“The whole team,” declared Frank. “They are not making a great howl over one pitcher, for they have two good men left over from last season, besides any new men that may develop. ”

“ Merry got on the first year he was in Yale.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I am not Frank Merriwell, and there are not many fellows his equal.”
Frank laughed merrily.
“Come off!” he cried. “The world is full of them. In order to get on at anything, a fellow must seize his opportunities. At the time that I got on to the nine there was a great cry for a change pitcher. I laid out to fill the bill, and I managed to fill it. That’s all. Now there’s a cry for a catcher, as well as for pitchers. It will be somebody’s opportunity.”
Hodge was silent, but there was an eager look on his face. ”

“ It will be jolly sport to strike you out, captain.”
“Don’t get the swelled head, Merriwell! Don’t think you can strike everybody out! That is what spoils a good pitcher.”
“You are right, Hardy,” nodded Frank, seriously. “The pitcher who is forever trying to strike out every batter who faces him soon kills himself. ”

“ Then they made the proctor march blindly onto the bridge. Frank held fast to the rope that was tied about the man’s waist.
They came to a halt at last. On the bridge below a light gleamed brightly. They were in the shadow.
“Are you ready, fellows?” asked Browning, as he took hold of the captive.
“Get onto the line here,” ordered Merriwell, and Diamond, Rattleton and Griswold took hold at once.
The water gurgled below with a sound similar to that once heard by Frank in the throat of a drowning man. Somehow a cold chill crept over Merry, and of a sudden he felt like backing out. ”

“ To a certain extent, Gooch and Billings are not responsible for their nature. They make themselves wretched. I am glad you silenced them, and all I ask is that they keep still. If they will let me alone, I’ll not trouble them.”
“And you will be soft with them if they do not let you alone,” growled Bruce. “I hope your experience of the other night is not going to make you worse than ever that way.”
As the days passed, Frank felt safer and safer. He saw the proctor sometimes, but, as a rule, Rudge pretended not to notice Merriwell. ”

“ Without showing the least excitement, but speaking very coldly, Merry said:
“Faunce, go into the dressing room and get out of that suit. Browning will put it on if he can get into it.”
“What?” cried Faunce, harshly. “What do you mean?”
“I do not propose to put a man up against Finch who feels sure he can’t hit the fellow. It’s a waste of time.”
“You are going to lay me off?” growled Faunce.
“Yes,” said Frank, and turned away.
Cursing under his breath, Faunce started toward the dressing room. Frank motioned for Browning to follow, and Bruce obeyed. ”

“ Strong hands reached down and grasped him, following which he was pulled over the bow and into the boat, where he dropped, quite beat out.
Diamond was bending over him.
“The proctor, where is he?”
“Heaven knows!” answered Frank, with a heart-breaking sob. “He is drowned, and I am to blame for it all!”
“Not by a blamed sight!” came vehemently from the lips of the Virginian. “You are not the only one to blame! We are all to blame!”
“That’s so,” said the voice of Harry Rattleton.
“Merriwell was the one who originated the scheme,” said Danny Griswold. ”

“ It is the same with his enemies now. They know he is white, and they feel that they are sneaks. That galls them.”
“Let Frank Merriwell alone, Rattleton. He has a level head, and he can take care of himself.”
“Oh, you don’t understand the situation now!” cried Harry, showing impatience. “That is plain enough. Frank is so square he would not dream anybody could pull him into the trap that is set for him. Now look here, Hodge, I want you to understand that I am just as much Merry’s friend as you are, and I don’t like to see him trapped. ”

“ Capt. Horn realized that his men were utterly overcome with fear, and so he allowed them to push off from the pier and row toward the black schooner, which was hidden in the darkness of the cove.
The waves beat against the boat with heavy thuds, but the arms of the sailors were strengthened by fear, and [Pg 57] they pulled lustily, seeming in terror that the ghost of the pirate chief should follow them even after they had left the island.
Capt. Horn continued to curse and snarl. His captive was silent.
That captive was a mystery to Frank. Surely it was not the girl they had seen on the vessel. ”