CHAPTER XXIXDICK 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 thealma materwhich 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.