Dick Merriwell

“ Because you ’fraid Dick Merriwell! That it! I know! First you come here you think you walk over him. Ha! You try it. Ha! You find it no work. Then you mean to beat him some way. You try it. It no work. Ha! You find he very much smart. He no ’fraid anything. When you try, try, try, you begin to get ’fraid of him an’ you——”
“That’s a lie, Bunol!” exclaimed Chester harshly. “I am not afraid of anything. But I know now that Merriwell cannot be defeated by ordinary means. I acknowledge it. I remain his enemy, just the same. I shall defeat him in the end. I shall triumph. ”

“ And that fellow still strong and well! Nothing ever happens to him. Why is it? It’s his luck—his luck!”
June knew he was thinking of Dick Merriwell, and she thought how nearly Dick had been knocked out of the game that day, how she had rushed to him as he lay on the field, and how she had given him the little locket as a “charm” to keep away misfortune in the future. ”

“ Having said this, he suddenly flung the door wide open.
Into the room stepped Dick Merriwell, followed by Ray Garrett.
“These yere gents are my witnesses,” said the Texan. “They’ve heard our little agreement at my invitation.” Then he paused, for Uriah Blackington followed Dick and Ray into the room, with Chip Jolliby at his heels.
The face of Blackington was like a thundercloud. He pointed an accusing finger at Fernald as he cried:
“So this is the kind of a man you are! I’ve always been inclined to think you a crook, although you’ve escaped detection until now!” ”

“ Chester Arlington was not on hand to witness the game, but the rest of the Wolf Gang, composed of cadets who hated Dick Merriwell—Mark Crauthers, Fred Stark, Sam Hogan, and Bunol, the Spanish boy—were there and rejoiced. These fellows did not dare show their satisfaction openly, but they expressed it to one another.
Sammy of Hudsonville was disappointed, but he kept up his cheering for Fardale and for Dick Merriwell right through to the end of the half.
“What are you yelling for?” asked a man roughly. “Fardale is getting beaten.” ”

“ Five minutes later Dick was on his way to town, accompanied by Brad. They went direct to the North Hotel, which did all the hotel business of the place, now that Fardale House had been gutted by fire, and there they sought Kennedy.
His name was not on the register. He did not seem to be with the strangers from Uniontown. Those strangers were the “sports” who followed the U. A. A. games and bet on the Uniontown team. They were looking for bets, and they hailed the appearance of Dick Merriwell. ”

“ Frank and his friends were enjoying all this. They were gathered in a little group on the veranda of the hotel. Merry felt a warm hand press his, and in his ear Inza whispered:
“Aren’t you proud of Dick?”
“Proud of him!” he exclaimed. “How can I help being?”
The next issue of the Rockford Star contained an account of the final games in the league series, and likewise the fielding and batting averages of all the players in the league. There was also a high eulogy of Dick Merriwell and praise for his companions, who had aided him in winning the pennant for Fairhaven. ”

“ I reckon we’d better introduce ourselves. Gents, this here is Dick Merriwell, a fighter from his toes to his scalp lock. He lives on scrimmages. To him a good fight is the breath of life. If he goes a whole day without a fight he loses flesh and becomes a whole lot downcast. I’ve seen him whip seven men in concussion. He looks young, but he’s fought enough to be older than these ruins. I’ll wager the contents of my warbags that the professor and I can sit down and look on comfortable while he wallops the both of you in one round.”
“That will about do,” muttered Dick.
“Wait,” urged Brad. ”

“ Ras al Had marched on, his servants following, still with Dick and Nadia in their midst.
They reached the camel train. Behind them the mob had melted away. The danger was past.
“Dick,” said Nadia, pressing Merriwell’s arm, “I think that old man is just splendid! I never dreamed a black man could be so fine!” ”

“ She’s smashed on Merriwell, and he is some smitten on her. That will make all the difference in the world. I’ll not be surprised to see Merriwell and Arlington chummy within a week or so.”
“It’s disgusting!” growled Crauthers. “Do you know, I have heard that these Merriwells always turn their enemies into friends.”
“I know one who will never become a friend to Dick Merriwell,” declared Stark.
Hogan said nothing, but down in his heart there was a guilty feeling, for in the past Dick Merriwell had befriended him, and he had once thought that never again could he lift a hand against Dick. ”

“ Mounted on one of the many camels were Dick Merriwell and Brad Buckhart, minus their disguises and wearing their own clothes.
Professor Gunn was swaying and rocking miserably on the back of another camel, his companion being one of the Syrians.
Brad Buckhart looked no less disconsolate than the professor, while the expression on Dick Merriwell’s face was not one of absolute satisfaction and contentment.
Brad was grumbling.
“Pard, I sure am a heap sore.”
“So am I,” admitted Dick. “Camel riding isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. It is enough to make any one sore.” ”

“ Dick Merriwell did it. It was he who formed the plan to disguise himself as Mr. Allsquint and get into your room in London that night of the card party, where he exposed the cheating of Bunol, who was robbing you at cards.”
“A wonderful chap that boy is! I like him, Nadia, and I like his chum, the fellow from Texas. Don’t you?”
“I do, indeed. Brad Buckhart is splendid, and the old professor is a genial soul. I am sorry we were unable to remain in Edinburgh until they came; but Bunol was there, and I knew we might encounter him any time. ”

“ She gave her hand to Dick and his friends as her son presented her. There were also two other middle-aged ladies who were present as chaperons.
“I’m very glad to meet Dick Merriwell,” said Mrs. Steele. “You won’t mind if I call you Dick, will you? You see, I’ve heard Casper call you that so often that it’s most natural for me.”
“I am genuinely complimented to know that you wish to call me by my Christian name, Mrs. Steele,” he bowed.
“You must make yourself at home—you and your friends. I hope you all have a pleasant time at Meadwold.” ”

“ Arlington not to interfere with the ambition of her son, a promise that had been made in the presence of June and the gathering of plebes about the carriage.
The keenly interested boys decided to go forth immediately and find out “what was doing.” They soon left the room, only Buckhart remaining with Dick. Merriwell sat on a chair, gazing at the floor, a strange look on his handsome face. The Texan walked over and dropped a hand on Dick’s shoulder.
“Pard.”
Dick looked up.
“Well, Brad?”
“This yere is no time to squat on your haunches. You want to get right up and hustle.” ”

“ Then the men with the rawhide whips began their work. The whips whistled through the air and fell on the Spaniard’s bare back, bringing the blood with the first blow.
A shriek of pain came from Bunol’s lips.
Dick could not endure much of this. After a little he implored the sheik to stop it.
“But this is merely a taste,” said Ras al Had grimly. “Do you think he would have stopped so soon with you at the post?”
“It makes no difference,” returned Merriwell. “I can’t see any human being beaten up that way.” ”

“ The thought of having anything to do with Bunol was extremely repulsive to Dick.
“You are a traitor to him,” he said. “I make it a practise to have no dealing with traitors. I do not trust you, Bunol, and so you may as well go.”
The visitor was astonished. He could not understand Dick at all. To him it was incomprehensible that Merriwell should not eagerly grasp at anything to crush an enemy like Arlington. Miguel began to chatter excitedly, but Dick sternly ordered him from the room.
“Fool!” snarled the Spanish lad, as he backed out “You see if Chester he do not beat you in the end!” ”

“ In a few moments the latter turned, saw Dick and his friends, and called:
“Mr. Merriwell is wanted.”
“What’s that?” gasped Buckhart, in the greatest amazement. “Did you hear it, pard? Did he say you were wanted?”
“That’s what he said,” nodded Dick.
Professor Gunn began to shake and choke.
“Richard, oh, Richard!” he exclaimed huskily. “These wild men have been sent to search the desert for you and take you back to Damascus! You are lost!”
“Great grizzlies!” burst from the Texan. “Is it possible that can be correct?”
“It may be,” said Dick quietly. ”

“ But it did not work, and you found yourself in the soup when Thor confronted you a few minutes ago in Merriwell’s room and swore that you gave him the papers.
“The jig is up, Bunol. By this piece of business you have ruined yourself here at Fardale, and you will have to leave the academy. Dick Merriwell gives you until morning to depart. He will let you go without punishment if you get out quietly. You’ll have to go.” ”

“ Lifting his voice, he asked:
“Who are you?”
“We are Americans. Who are yo’?”
“We are Americans, too.”
“What are yo’ doing here?”
“We are lost—deserted by our guide.”
“So are we. How many of yo’ are there?”
“Three. How many of you?”
“Two; and somebody shall suffer fo’ this outrage! Somebody shall pay the penalty fo’ it! I’ll have satisfaction as sho’ ’s my name is——”
“Major Mowbry Fitts, of Natchez, Mississippi,” finished Dick.
“That’s my name, suh! But yo’, suh—why, is it possible that yo’ are——”
“Professor Zenas Gunn, accompanied by Dick Merriwell and Brad Buckhart. ”

“ In spite of Professor Gunn’s lack of nerve, in spite of the spells of trepidation which seized him, in spite of his many weaknesses, the old man had won a warm corner in Dick Merriwell’s heart, and Dick was not the boy to desert in time of peril any one for whom he had the slightest regard. ”

“ The old professor threw up his thin hands and looked quite helpless. The widow assisted Buckhart to take the senseless girl into the sitting room and place her on the couch near the crackling, open fire.
Dick Merriwell lost not a moment in kneeling beside Aaron and examining his injury. He found a very slight cut in the hair near the temple.
“Stop that groaning!” he sternly commanded. “You’re not even badly hurt; you’re scarcely scratched.”
“Na! na!” gasped the little man. “I think I maun dee!”
“You won’t die from anything that has happened to you to-night. Get up! Stop this foolishness! ”

“ Merriwell, we have concluded that, while you have done splendidly with the eleven, you have not been playing the men in just the right positions. Besides,” he went on swiftly, not permitting Dick to speak, “there are two men on the team who are not strong men, and we have concluded to drop them off for this game and try the experiment of supplying their places. We do this now because this is not a game with a school eleven, and we can better afford to experiment than at any other time. If we find we have improved the team, we shall be very glad. ”

“ Come on with me up to Merriwell’s room. Some of the fellows are going up there. Just you spring it there and see if you don’t make a big hit with it.”
So Bradley was led away to Dick’s room, where some of the boys had gathered, it being a general gathering-place for the football-team. Singleton was there, lounging comfortably on a Morris chair. Merriwell was talking to Dare and Douglass. Buckhart and Jolliby had dropped in.
“Give it to them right off the reel,” urged Ted, in a whisper to Billy.
“Hi say, fellows,” said Bradley, “what his the longest word hin the Henglish language?” ”

“ He had seen Mullura making a sweeping movement with his right arm.
Dick dropped barely in time, for through the air whizzed a knife, cast with great precision, and with such force that it clanged against the wall of the opposite house, dropping back with a splash into the water.
“A miss is as good as a mile,” said Merriwell. “But look out for yourself, Brad. Another may follow.”
Another of the desperadoes did cast a knife at them, but his aim was poor, and soon the gondola shot out from the narrow passage onto the bosom of a broader canal. ”

“ Then Arlington turned to Dick.
“You can thank me,” he said, “that you did not get that knife between your shoulders.”
“That’s a nice, murderous whelp you have there!” said Dick, without a tremor in his voice. “I think he’s altogether too devilish for this school, and I’ll have to report this piece of business. A fellow who throws a knife at another fellow’s back will be fired out of Fardale in a hurry.”
“Hold on, Merriwell!” exclaimed Arlington. “Don’t forget that I saved you!”
“For your own sake,” returned Dick instantly. ”

“ Having drawn on his sweater, Dick observed that Ray Garrett, the manager of the Fairhaven team, was looking blue and downcast. Merriwell clapped him on the shoulder and advised him to cheer up.
“It’s tough!” muttered Garrett. “This game pushed us down from second position and let Seaslope head us. If Seaslope keeps up the pace it has set, Hyde is right in thinking it will win the pennant.”
“You talk like a funeral!” exclaimed Dick. “Wait till we reach Rockford. We’ll figure over the standing of the teams after we get there. I think you will see they are well bunched.” ”

“ Failing to accept Brad’s warning, Dick took Jones by the arm and began to question him.
“A wise head containeth a silent tongue,” muttered the disgruntled captain of the freshman team.
“But he that seeketh diligently after wisdom shall obtain it,” reminded Dick.
“And he that is devoured by much inquisitiveness causeth disturbance,” retorted Blessed. “Let us seek the shelter of our roof tree before we prattle of our disgrace.”
“Evidently you all take it sorely to heart,” said Merriwell. “I never saw such a cut-up looking bunch of ball players.” ”