DICK MAKES A DISCOVERY.
J. Harry Edgerton had spent such a busy day in town that he missed the
Merchants’ Limited and was obliged to take the 5:30 train from the Grand
Central, which did not get him to New Haven until after seven. It was,
in fact, exactly twenty-five minutes past when he stepped out of the cab
at the entrance to the New Haven House and made his way leisurely into
the lobby.
As his smiling, cherubic countenance loomed like a full moon in the
doorway, Clarence Carr, who had been waiting impatiently for some time,
stepped quickly forward.
“Well!” he said, rather shortly, “I expected you an hour ago, at the
latest. What under the sun kept you so long?”
“Patience, my sweet Dromio,” gurgled the fat fellow, with a pacifying
wave of his hand. “Don’t fly at me like an angry cat. All is well.
Better than we hoped for, in fact. But let us lubricate. I cannot—simply
cannot—orate in my present parched condition of throat. It feels like
the desert of Sahara—I give you my word it does.”
The broker’s face relaxed considerably.
“Well, come along, then,” he returned. “I could manage one or two
myself.”
He linked his arm with that of Edgerton, and together they passed into
the bar and took their seats at one of the small tables. An attendant
was quickly summoned and brought glasses, bottles, and a siphon. Then he
withdrew, leaving them on the table at a sign from Edgerton.
Two high balls were mixed and promptly swallowed. Then J. Harry leaned
back in his chair with a contented sigh and took a comprehensive survey
of the room.
There were half a dozen men congregated at the other end of the bar,
while farther along, at a point nearly opposite their table, a rather
seedy individual, with flushed face and dented derby, had just slouched
in and ordered gin. The stout gentleman saw the drink poured out, with a
grimace of disgust.
“Pah!” he exclaimed. “Such a coarse drink, and so extremely deleterious
to the lining of the stomach! Never indulge in crude gin, Clarence. That
fellow is half seas over as it is. He’ll be put out directly.”
He watched the man drain his glass at a swallow and barely touch his
lips with the chaser. Then, dismissing the fellow from his mind, he
returned to the matter in hand, first, however, mixing himself another
high ball, which he consumed in leisurely sips while he talked.
He would have been somewhat astonished had he known that the object of
his criticism at the bar had performed a swift substitution of the
glasses under his very eye, and, instead of drinking the gin, he had
swallowed the chaser; and presently, when his order was repeated, the
full glass of gin was dumped into the slops by the bartender under the
impression that it was water, and another glassful poured out.
“Splendid success,” Edgerton chuckled. “I laid out every cent I could
beg, borrow, or steal, at bully odds. I should say about two thousand
odd, including everything. Now, if you’ve only done your part as well,
we’ll be in Easy Street this time to-morrow night.”
Carr’s eyes sparkled.
“Great!” he exclaimed. “Don’t be afraid, Edge. I’ve got things fixed so
that the whole team is at loggerheads. I’ve worked Kenny every minute I
could be with him, and kept that grouch of his nursed as if it was a
precious hothouse flower. The poor fool has never suspected me for an
instant. Thinks I have a sweetly sympathetic nature. I think there’s
hardly a doubt that we’ll win out, and then for another try at that game
of the Bluebell mining stock.”
Edgerton chuckled, and raised the glass to his lips.
“Good! We’ll place a few little bets here and there to-morrow among the
confiding village people, providing, of course, they don’t insist on
being shown the coin. Altogether, it ought to be a pretty nice little
rake-off.”
The man at the bar seemed to have had enough gin. With unsteady gait and
leering eye, he passed the table and made his way toward the door. As he
reached it, he caught his foot and nearly fell. The next moment he had
lurched out into the darkness.
On the pavement outside a surprising transformation took place. The
fellow straightened up suddenly, and, with a sweep of his hand, pushed
his hat up from where it hung over one ear. Then he started down the
street at a rapid walk, which was almost a run. There was not the
slightest sign of intoxication in his gait.
“By Jove!” he muttered. “That’s their game, is it? Thank Heaven I’ve
found it out! What a pair of blacklegs!”
He glanced swiftly at a near-by clock. It was almost eight.
“Gee!” he exclaimed, under his breath. “I’ve got to catch him before he
leaves for the meeting.”
The next instant he turned into one of the gates of Vanderbilt, dashed
up the drive, and cleared the steps at a bound. Upstairs he went,
lickety-split, and reached Kenny’s floor just as the quarter back opened
the door and stepped out.
“Wait a minute, Jack,” he said quickly. “I’ve got something to tell
you.”
“The deuce you have!” Kenny growled. “Who in thunder are you, anyhow?”
For an instant Dick had forgotten the disguise. No wonder the quarter
back didn’t know him!
“It’s Merriwell,” he said, smiling. “Quick! Give me a towel and some
water. I’ll get rid of this stuff while we talk. I’ve got my cold-cream
jar in my pocket.”
Pushing the bewildered Kenny before him, he entered the room and closed
the door.
“Hustle, boy!” he exclaimed. “A wet towel first, and then we’ll go at
the other.”
Still dazed, but under the influence of Dick’s dominating personality,
Kenny brought the moistened towel, which Merriwell snatched from his
hands. Already he had rubbed cold cream over his face. With the first
vigorous rub off came the eyebrows and most of the paint. Kenny gasped
as the familiar face of his friend appeared swiftly and strangely. Then
Dick plunged into his story, for there was no time to lose.
“This Clarence Carr,” he began rapidly; “you’ve been pretty chummy with
him lately, haven’t you?”
Kenny looked astonished.
“Why, he’s been in to see me several——”
“Exactly,” Dick cut in. “Talked football a lot, didn’t he? Said you were
being badly used on the team, I’ll bet? Perhaps he said you should have
been captain?”
The quarter back’s jaw dropped at this volley of questions. A rush of
color stained his face.
“Why, how—how—did you——”
“Never mind how I found out,” Dick flashed back. “Jack, he’s a crooked
scoundrel! He’s been egging you on to buck against Tempest for the sole
purpose of ruining the team and giving the game to Harvard.”
The flush died out of Kenny’s face, leaving it pale and set. His eyes
flashed indignantly.
“How dare you say that, Merriwell?” he exclaimed angrily. “He couldn’t
do such a thing. Why, his own brother went to Yale and played on the
varsity!”
“I know all that, but it’s true just the same,” Dick flung back. “Would
you believe it if you knew he and a pal of his had put up over two
thousand dollars on Harvard?”
“But how could he?” expostulated the quarter back. “He’s crazy for us to
win. He’s even——”
“I know all that,” Merriwell returned swiftly; “but this very night—not
ten minutes ago—I heard the truth from his very lips. He was talking
over it with his pal in the bar of the New Haven House. I was there,
made up this way. I had suspected him before. They didn’t know me, of
course. The bets were all placed in New York. They’re no better than a
couple of crooks. Listen!”
Swiftly, a little brokenly, but quite clearly, he poured into Kenny’s
ears the story of what he had discovered. The quarter back’s face was
pale and his eyes horror-stricken when the brief recital was finished.
For an instant he could not speak.
“His very words,” repeated Dick. “I’ve worked Kenny every minute I could
be with him, and kept that grouch of his nursed as if it was a precious
hothouse flower. The poor fool never suspected me for an instant. Thinks
I have a sweetly sympathetic nature.”
Suddenly the slim fellow’s face grew purple.
“Blazes!” he almost shouted. “The thundering, double-faced liar! I’ll
smash up that face of his so his own brother won’t know him! I’m going
down there this minute. I don’t care where he is.”
Without waiting to pick up his hat, he started toward the door, his
fists clenched and his eyes wild with rage. Dick caught his arm in a
grip of iron.
“Stop, Jack!” he said sternly. “You’ve got something more important than
that to do.”
Kenny struggled to release his arm.
“Let me go, Dick!” he pleaded. “The dirty scoundrel used me! I’ve got
to——”
“You’ve got to come to the gym with me,” Merriwell broke in swiftly.
“You’ve got to set things right with Tempest. The fellows are all in a
blue funk because of what you’ve done. They don’t believe in Don any
more, and you’ve got to make them believe. I don’t care what you do to
this sneak after to-morrow, but until then your duty is to Yale. I tell
you, Jack, the very game is at stake, and you’re the only man who can
stir the fellows up and give them back the confidence in Tempest which
you have taken away. Perhaps it’s too late now. I don’t know, but you’ve
got to try.”
While he was speaking, Kenny’s face grew calmer, and into his eyes crept
a look which was like fear. What if he had spoiled Yale’s chances for
victory by his idiotic behavior? What if it were too late for
reparation? A bitter pang, sharp as a dagger point, pierced him to the
heart. He saw himself branded as a traitor to the _alma mater_ which he
loved so well, and for whose success he would have willingly given up
his last breath. The thought sobered him like a dash of icy water and
made him forget everything but the desperate need for reviving the
drooping spirits of the team and restoring their confidence in Don
Tempest, the man he had wronged.
The quarter back ceased his struggles instantly.
“You’re right, Dick,” he said, in a strained voice. “I’ve been a blind,
beastly fool; but I understand now. I’ll do my best to straighten things
out with the boys. It can’t be too late—it simply can’t!”
He looked imploringly at Merriwell, whose face was very serious.
“I hope not,” the latter said soberly. “Lost confidence is a pretty hard
thing to restore, sometimes but we’ve got to do it to-night. Come, let’s
hurry.”
Without a word, Kenny snatched up his hat, switched off the light, and
together the two hastened down the stairs and out into the street.
------------------------------------------------------------------------