DOWNWARD.
In vain Gage and Snell tried to get hold of some IOU's with Frank
Merriwell's name on them. Frank's money was exhausted, and he stopped
playing suddenly. Gage offered to loan him money, but he had not
forgotten the past, and not a cent of Gage's cash would he touch.
Then Snell tried it, but was no more successful.
This made them both angry.
"Confound the fellow!" said Gage, fiercely. "We've got him badly
tangled; but he seems to have taken the alarm, and I'm afraid he will
break away."
"We must not let him do so," said Snell. "If we lose our fish now,
we'll never land him."
"What can be done?"
"That is for us to study out."
And so they set about plotting and trying to devise still other schemes
to disgrace Frank, and drive him from the academy.
In the meantime, a feeling of revulsion had seized Frank Merriwell. Of
a sudden he had perceived whither he was drifting. He realized what
false steps he had already taken, and he was heartily ashamed of
himself.
Among his treasures was a medal of honor presented to him by Congress
for twice saving the life of Inza Burrage, a pretty girl who lived in
Fardale, and whose brother, Walter, was a cadet at the academy. Once
he had fought a mad dog with no weapon but a clasp-knife, and kept the
creature from biting Inza, and once he had saved her from death beneath
the wheels of the afternoon express, which flew through Fardale village
without stopping.
Coming across this medal where he kept it choicely deposited, it
suddenly brought to him an overwhelming feeling of self-abasement and
shame.
What would Inza Burrage think of him if she knew of his weakness--knew
that he was playing cards for money, and making associates of such
fellows as Gage and Snell?
It was true that she did not know either Gage or Snell for what they
really were at heart, but Frank did, and there really seemed no excuse
for him.
He tried to excuse himself by saying he had been led into temptation
through Hodge, but, in another instant he felt meaner than before.
"You ought to be ashamed, Merriwell!" he told himself. "You have all
the influence in the world over Hodge, if you use your power
skillfully, and, instead of trying to shoulder the blame on him, you
should be disgusted with yourself for making no attempt to save him
from such company and such practices!"
Then he thought of the money he had lost. How could he stop without
making an effort to win it back? If he could have one good streak of
luck and win enough to make himself square, he would stop.
This very desire to "get square with the game" has been the ruin of
more than one promising youth.
So he told himself over and over that he would stop as soon as he "got
square."
Saturday came round. Inza Burrage had sent him word through her
brother that she would visit Belinda Snodd that afternoon, and he might
see her there, if he cared to call.
Belinda Snodd was the daughter of John Snodd, a rather queer old
fellow, who ran an odd sort of boarding-house for summer people who
visited the Cove, on which Fardale Academy was situated. Snodd each
year boarded a number of applicants for admission to the academy until
they had prepared themselves for examination and been accepted or
turned away. Frank had boarded there when he first came to Fardale,
and so he knew the family well.
But how could he meet Inza that afternoon? He was in no mood to meet
her. She had regarded him as a hero--as being very near perfection.
If she knew the truth----
"I can't do it!" Frank muttered. "Not till I face about squarely can I
see her again."
But, as the afternoon came round, he was seized by a great longing to
catch a glimpse of her, at least. Mechanically he began dressing, as
if he were going to call on her.
Hodge was reading a book. He flung it aside, with an impatient
exclamation that was followed by a yawn.
"I'm tired of that old thing!" he cried. "I am tired of everything!"
"You need a rest, Bart," said Frank. "You are not getting enough
sleep."
"I am getting as much as you. I say, Frank, don't you think living is
a bore, anyway?"
"Not when a fellow lives right."
"Right? What do you mean by that? Isn't a chap to have any sport?"
"Yes; but there are two kinds of sport--so called. One is healthy,
invigorating, delightful, like baseball and football, for instance.
The other is fascinating, injurious, debasing, like poker."
Bart stared at Frank a moment, as if he were somewhat puzzled, and then
said:
"I guess you are right, old man. I hadn't ever thought of it just that
way before. I'd swear off and try to keep away from the game, if I
wasn't in so deep."
"You have lost quite an amount lately."
"Yes, I have been knifed deep. Gage has astounding luck."
"Do you think it is all luck?"
Bart looked surprised.
"Why, to be sure. The fellow plays a square game."
"Why should he? You know, as well as I, that he is not square by
nature."
"That's right; but his cards are cut every time, and he doesn't know
enough to put 'em up."
"There are other ways of cheating besides putting the cards up."
"That's true, but I do not believe Gage is on that lay. He simply has
beastly big luck."
"Perhaps."
"You do not think so?"
"I do not know. You will remember that Gage has no particular love for
either of us, and we have both lost heavily."
"Do you mean to quit playing?"
"Possibly."
Hodge looked doubtful, for he now understood how strong must be the
temptation for Merriwell to follow the game.
Frank completed dressing, and left the academy. He turned his
footsteps in the direction of Snodd's, but still he had no intention of
going there. Keeping under the brow of the hill, he passed around to a
large grove in the rear of Snodd's buildings.
It was early October now, and the air was bracing and exhilarating, for
all the afternoon was mild. The trees were flaming with color, and the
leaves had begun to sift down. In the grove squirrels romped and
chattered.
It seemed good to Frank to get away alone under the shadow of the
trees. New strength and new life came to him, and new resolves and
determinations formed themselves unsought and unbidden in his mind. He
felt that it was a privilege and a blessing to be alive.
Had he felt free to meet Inza then, he would have been quite happy.
He flung himself down beneath a great tree at the edge of the grove,
where he could see Snodd's buildings. For a long time he lay there,
thinking and dreaming.
Suddenly he started up. Three figures were leaving the buildings and
coming toward the grove. He saw they were three girls, and he
instantly recognized one of them as Inza. The others were Belinda
Snodd and one of the village girls, with whom Frank was slightly
acquainted, Mabel Blossom, generally known as May Blossom.
"They are coming here!" exclaimed Frank. "They must not see me!"
He arose hastily, and scurried away into the grove, and he did not stop
till he had reached the shore. There he sat down amid some rocks, and
remained a long time, as it seemed to him.
But he could not resist the temptation to steal back and see if the
girls were still in the grove. He finally arose and did so.
As he passed through the grove and came out near the old picnic-ground,
he suddenly halted and stepped behind a tree, for he had come upon two
persons in earnest conversation.
They were Inza Burrage and Leslie Gage!