Up one flight in the hotel was a window in the hall at the front of the
house. Dick and June passed by this window, which, although closed, did
not prevent them from hearing the words of the boys below, and June
laughed when Sammy declared he would soak Spike Hanlon in the mouth if
Spike said anything more about her.
"That's the kind of champion to have!" exclaimed Dick.
"They are going to fight!" exclaimed June. "That freckled boy is big and
strong."
"But I'll bet anything Sammy does him if they come to a genuine scrap,"
said Dick. "But don't worry; there'll be no fight. The most of the boys
are on Sammy's side, and the other fellow doesn't want to mix in."
They heard Spike's taunts just before he retreated, and June muttered:
"Just you wait and see what kind of a wheel he'll have! I'll make father
buy him the very best in the market."
"Then that other boy will turn green with jealousy," laughed Dick. "It
will be a great triumph for Sammy."
"He deserves it."
"I agree with you. He is a most remarkable fellow, and I like him.
Evidently he's a poor boy. But he didn't whimper when his wheel was
smashed, and that is why I say he is remarkable. Most boys would have
put up a terrible outcry over it."
"It is strange that my brother should have been hurt so badly just from
falling backward out of the carriage when the horse started," said June.
"Is it a fact that he is badly hurt?" asked Dick.
"I fear so. The doctor told me that, at least, we had not better think
of returning to Fardale before to-morrow. He said he would be able to
say positively to-morrow whether Chester is badly hurt or not. He is
coming back with another doctor in a short time, and they will make a
more complete examination."
"For your sake," said Dick sincerely, "I am very sorry that your brother
was hurt."
Dick spoke with perfect truthfulness, and she understood him. It is not
likely that he would have felt keen regret on Chester's account alone,
but his interest in June made it possible for him to be sorry, as the
affair had caused her distress.
She thanked him, but she did not misinterpret his words in the least.
She understood that her brother and Dick Merriwell were persistent and
unrelenting enemies.
"I was so glad to see you win the game to-day," she said, seeming to
wish to change the subject.
"Yes, the boys did splendidly."
"They did very well, but you--you were the one who really won the game."
"In football every man is dependent on the others engaged in the game.
Without their assistance he would be powerless to win."
"Oh, if you put it that way, of course no fellow could stand up alone
against eleven others and win a game. But that does not alter the fact
that you were the one who won the game to-day. And I thought you badly
hurt that time when I--when I made a sensation by running on to the
field," she finished, her face getting very red.
She was confused, and Dick's heart beat a bit faster now. But she
quickly found a way to make it appear that it was not purely from
agitation over Dick that she hurried on to the gridiron.
"I was so afraid that meant failure for the team! When I saw you down
and feared you would have to leave the field, I knew Fardale was in a
bad scrape. Without a captain, she would have been defeated quickly."
Dick knew well enough that it was more than fear for the result of the
game that had caused her to rush pale and trembling across the field and
kneel to lift his head while he lay helpless on the ground; but he
pretended disappointment now, seeking to draw her out.
"I'm very sorry," he said, watching her closely; "I fancied you were
anxious on my account. I presume it was conceited of me to have such a
thought."
She looked him straight in the eyes.
"Doubtless my conduct was such that it gave you cause to think so," she
nodded, perfectly at ease.
"Your conduct--and your words," he returned.
She remembered with some dismay that she had been greatly excited as she
lifted his head and knelt on the ground. She could not recall the words
she had uttered at the time, but she knew she had called him "Dick," and
she entreated the doctor to tell her he was not badly hurt. Still June
retained her self-possession, although she did not repress an added bit
of color that again rose to her cheeks.
"I believe you were shamming, sir!" she asserted, severely. "You seemed
almost unconscious, yet you pretend that you heard what I said. I think
you dreamed that you heard it."
"Well, it was a very pleasant dream, and it quite repaid me for the jar
I received in that little clash."
She could not resist his subtle compliment, and, in spite of her
self-control, she felt her pulse thrill a little. Although a girl of
sixteen and usually most reserved, she was open to flattery in its
finest form, as most girls are.
Dick, however, was no flatterer, and he spoke what he felt to be the
simple truth and nothing more. It is possible that his sincerity
impressed her.
"My locket----" she began.
"Oh, I hope you are not going to command me to return it to you again!"
he exclaimed.
"No."
"I am thankful for that. I gave it up once, thinking you would be
generous enough to hear what I had to say; but you refused to see me or
to permit me to explain----"
"Which was very unjust of me," she frankly admitted. "I was sorry when
it was too late, but you did not come again."
"Because I did not care to receive another snub."
"Will you pardon me?"
"Surely I will, now that I have the locket again. But I do not wish you
to believe that I ever dropped that locket intentionally with the desire
of having it become known that you had given it to me. I did not think
you could believe such a thing of me."
There was reproach in Dick's words, and she felt it.
"My brother made it seem that you did," she hastened to say;
"and--and--another would not deny it."
"Another?" exclaimed Dick. "I know who it was! It was Hal Darrell!"
"I have not said so."
"But you cannot say it was not Darrell?"
"I will not say it wasn't or that it was."
"We were enemies once," said Dick, "but I found him pretty square, and I
can admire a fellow who is my enemy if he is honest. Later we became,
not exactly friends, but reconciled. Somehow we could not get on real
friendly terms, though I fancy we both wished to be friendly at one
time. Of late he has changed, and I am satisfied that he is once more my
enemy. I don't think he will lie about me, but it is possible he might
not correct the false statement of another. Miss Arlington, is it
possible that, at the present time, there remains in your mind the least
doubt concerning my behavior? If there is such a doubt, even though I
would dearly love to keep your locket and your picture, I must beg you
to take it back."
He was grim and stern now, and for a single instant she felt a trifle
awed. Then pride came to her rescue, and she exclaimed:
"If you wish to get rid of it so much, I'll take it, sir!"
"I do not wish to get rid of it. Indeed, I wish to keep it always; but I
cannot keep it knowing you might suspect me of showing it, laughing over
it and boasting that it was a 'mash.' Do you understand?"
"I think I do," she said quietly. "I shall let you keep it, and you may
be sure there is no doubt in my mind. I believe you are a gentleman."
Dick had triumphed. Again he was a winner, and it made him glad indeed.
He thanked her earnestly and sincerely, upon which she said:
"Foolish though it may seem, I am certain now that the locket has given
you good fortune. I felt sure you would win the game for Fardale to-day
after I gave you the locket, and you took it. Then, with the locket
still in your possession, you stopped the runaway. Keep it, and may it
be the charm to give you luck as long as it remains in your possession."
"I am sure it will!" he laughed. "As long as it contains that picture it
will remain a charm for me."
"You know I accept you as a friend, Mr. Merriwell; but my brother is
angry with me, my mother will be more so, and my father will side with
my mother. I tell you this as an explanation of my conduct in the
future, should anything happen to make it seem that I am unfriendly."
"I think I'll understand you."
"Then you will do better than most fellows," smiled June; "for they do
not understand girls at all. Hal Darrell----"
Then she paused suddenly, for Hal himself had ascended the stairs and
stopped, staring at them. His face was rather pale, and there was a
glitter in his dark eyes.
"Oh, Mr. Darrell!" exclaimed June. "I have been looking for you."
"Have you?" said Hal, his eyes on Dick.
"Yes. Brother wants to see you. He's in room 37. Please go right up."
Hal stood still and stared at Dick a moment longer, after which he
mounted the stairs to the second story and disappeared.