While the glasses were being collected, Frank prepared for the next feat.
The wineglass trick had been cleverly performed, and yet it was done in a very simple manner.
The coat which Merry wore while doing this trick had three little inner pockets on either side, made to hold the six glasses of wine produced from behind the borrowed handkerchief. The glasses were filled, and then over the top of each a rubber cap was stretched, to prevent the wine from spilling. This done, the glasses were placed in the little pockets, and Merry knew which pockets contained the different kinds.
He was careful to secure a large handkerchief. When he performed the trick, he spread the handkerchief out over his breast, and, beneath its cover, reached in and took the glasses of wine from the pockets, deftly removing the rubber caps as he took them out. Then it was easy to pretend to draw the brimming glasses of wine from the handkerchief, and the very fact that the glasseswere full to the edge made the feat seem all the more marvelous.
Fortunately the audience had called for the very kinds with which he had provided himself, with the exception of the Rhine wine. No one called for that, but Merry pretended to hear some one call, and forced the wine on a spectator, getting rid of it in that manner.
When he went off the stage to get the trick bottle, he hastily took off his coat and hung under his right arm a rubber bag containing port wine. From this bag a rubber tube ran down his sleeve to his hand. There was a hole in the bottle near the bottom. When he rinsed the bottle in the presence of the audience, he kept his thumb over the hole. While drying the bottle with the towel, he inserted the rubber tube in the hole. Then it was an easy thing to go down into the audience and pour wine from the bottle, which seemed inexhaustible. Whenever he wished to pour out some wine he would press against the rubber bag with his arm, and the wine was forced out through the tube into the bottle.
The glasses were of special make and of very thick glass, making a bulky appearance, but holding a very little wine, so that the marvel was not nearly so great as it seemed.
The "Talking Head" trick was the next one Frank decided to perform. This illusion was made effective by means of a set of mirrors which made it seem that the audience could look right through beneath the table onwhich the "severed head" seemed to rest, while, in fact, the mirrors hid the body to which the head was attached.
A clever assistant is much needed in performing this trick, and Merry had a good one in M. Mazarin. The business was carried through successfully.
Then came the "Spirit Mysteries," which were a series of cabinet tricks, none of them exactly new, but all of them performed well enough to satisfy the now thoroughly good-natured audience.
The final trick of the evening was announced—"The Educated Fly."
This was something new, and the audience was interested.
Frank had attempted none of the feats requiring extraordinary skill and a large amount of practice, thus escaping the pitfall into which Thaddeus Burnham had feared he would stumble.
Yet he had given an hour of genuine pleasure to the wondering audience.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said Frank, "I will now show for the first time in this place Prof. Zolverein's wonderful 'Educated Fly.' Up to this time there have been plenty of educated cats, dogs, pigs, birds and mice, but I believe this is the first time on record that a genuine educated fly has been on exhibition. Of course this is not an ordinary fly. It is a native of South America, and was captured in Ecuador, near the headwaters of theAmazon. There, far in the mighty tropical forests, the flies grow to an immense size, so that even the famous Jersey mosquito in his highest state of development is a mere pigmy beside them. These flies are not easily kept in captivity, as they almost invariably refuse to eat and pine away and die as soon as they are taken from the fastnesses of the wild forests where they abound. They love their native forests. These flies are possessed of a wonderful intelligence, and they might be readily trained if they did not almost invariably starve themselves to death when held in captivity. Prof. Zolverein was fortunate in securing one of the flies which had become accustomed to captivity, and he was able to teach the tiny creature many astonishing feats. Among other things, the fly is a ready reckoner, as you shall see. Prof. Pombal will entertain you while the stage is being made ready for the final exhibition."
As Frank finished, a voice in the back of the hall cried:
"Rats!"
Merry looked in the direction from whence the sound seemed to come.
"I have no educated rats," he said, quietly; "but if the person who called for them will come forward, I will show the audience an educated monkey."
This caused a laugh, and several persons in the rear of the theater turned to look toward the one who had uttered the cry, a flashily-dressed youth who had entered a few minutes before.
This person grinned a bit, but did not accept Frank's invitation to come forward.
Merry retired, and the curtain was dropped for a few moments.
When the professor finished playing on the piano, the curtain rose swiftly, showing on the stage an easel, against which rested a large mirror in a gilt frame. This mirror was about four and a half feet wide, and three feet high.
Frank walked out briskly upon the stage.
"You will see, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "that I have had this mirror placed in a position where the light falls strongly upon it, and I think you will be able to follow the movements of the fly from any part of the house. First, I wish to show you the mirror."
He then took the mirror down from the easel, and, having shown both sides to the audience, rested it on the floor, leaning it against the easel.
Next he took the glass from the frame and showed that to the audience.
"It is just an ordinary mirror, as you can all see," he said.
Having shown the glass, he rested that against the easel, and took up the frame, which had a wooden back, and showed that to the audience. Then the frame was placed on the easel in its proper position, while the glass still leaned against the bottom part, which it covered up as far as the lower edge of the frame.
As it stood thus, Frank talked glibly a few moments,then he picked up the glass and returned it carefully to the frame.
"Now," he said, taking a piece of soap, "I am going to divide this mirror into twenty-eight even squares."
He proceeded to do so.
"Next," explained Merry, "I will number twenty-six of those squares in order as they come, like this."
He numbered them from one to twenty-six.
"The next square I will mark zero—thus. The last one I will leave blank. That shall be a starting point. Now we will letter those squares in the same manner from 'a' to 'z.'"
This was quickly done.
"At last," he smiled, "we are ready for the wonderful fly."
He stepped toward a small stand, on which rested something covered by a cloth. Removing the cloth, a small cage with very close wiring was seen.
Frank opened a door in one side of the cage, chirping and murmuring something. He put in his hand carefully, and took something from the cage.
By this time the audience was literally throbbing with interest and expectancy.
"What is it?" whispered one.
"It's the fly," said another.
"Fly! Never! Why, it was in a bird cage."
"Well, it's large."
"But not large enough for—— Great Scott!"
Merry had placed the fly in the blank corner of themarked mirror, and everyone was astonished by its appearance.
"It's large as a humming bird!" shrilly hissed a boy. "My! but that's a corker!"
"That can't be a fly!" declared a man.
Then the amazing insect was seen to start to crawl across the face of the mirror.
"Here! here!" laughed Frank, gently catching it and restoring it to the blank place in the lower right-hand corner. "Don't be in a hurry to get to work."
"There is one amazing thing about this fly," he said, turning to smile on the audience. "It is never afraid of working overtime, and it really seems anxious to earn its salary."
The fly moved restlessly in the corner, starting several times as if to creep away, but turning back.
"It is a fly!" said a man's voice in the midst of the audience.
"Now," said Merry, "we are ready to give you one of the most astonishing exhibitions on record. Before you, ladies and gentlemen, you behold a fly that actually thinks and reasons."
"Rats!"
Again that voice from the rear of the hall.
Frank looked keenly in that direction, hoping to discover the person who uttered the derisive cry.
"I will prove to you that I am not making an unfounded claim," the young magician asserted. "Willsome person in the audience be kind enough to call one of the numbers marked on the mirror."
"Number one," cried a voice.
"Number one," repeated Frank. "Very well. Now, Solomon," addressing the fly, "will you please show the ladies and gentlemen where number one is located?"
Immediately the fly started and crawled across the face of the mirror to the upper left-hand corner, where it stopped on the number called.
All over the theater there was a flutter.
"Marvelous!" said one.
"Astonishing!" spoke another.
"There must be some trickery about it!" a little man in spectacles was heard to declare. "No fly could be taught to do such a thing."
"Fake!" cried the voice that had twice before shouted "rats."
Frank laughed as if amused.
"Wait," he said, quietly. "This is merely the beginning. What is to follow will astonish you still more. Back, Solomon."
Back to the unmarked square crept the huge fly.
"Some person call a letter, please, requested Frank.
"E," said a woman in the third row.
"E is the letter," said Frank. "Now, Solomon, find it."
The fly started to creep along the bottom of the mirror, hesitated, turned about, started back, stopped.
"Ha! ha! ha!" came a derisive laugh. "The old thing is off its trolley! It's lost."
"Come, Solomon, come," smiled the magician; "they are making sport of you. Are you going to stand that? Find the letter E, and hurry up about it."
Slowly the fly turned, and then it ran swiftly up the face of the mirror till it stopped on the letter E, directly under the figure five.
There was a burst of applause.
"It is the wonder of the age!" excitedly declared a big, fat man whose flushed face seemed to indicate that he had been indulging too freely in liquid refreshments.
"Good enough, Solomon," complimented Merry, in a caressing tone of voice. "You are all right."
"Fake!"
Again that hateful cry.
Now several of the audience were aroused. Men began to look for the disturbing person.
"Put him out!" exclaimed two or three, angrily.
"He has no right to disturb the show," declared a man in the right-hand proscenium box. "I am near enough to see, and this thing is all right."
It happened that the speaker was the mayor of the town, and his words made an impression.
"Whatever Mayor Durgin says is all right must be all right," was the general decision.
Frank ordered the fly back to the starting point.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen," he said, calmly, "I will show you that Solomon is able to reckon, as well asthink. Will some person call two of the numbers on the mirror, which added together will not amount to more than twenty-six? Anyone present. I wish you to understand that this is not arranged in advance. So I would like to have some well-known lady name the numbers."
"Mrs. Durgin! Mrs. Durgin!" called several.
The mayor in the box turned and bowed to his wife, smiling. The lady blushed and seemed confused, but she quickly recovered. Then she leaned on the rail of the box, distinctly calling:
"Seven and eleven."
"Come seben, come eleben," laughed a youngster, and that produced some amusement.
"Solomon," said Frank, slowly and distinctly, "I wish you to find the numbers seven and eleven, add them together, and indicate the sum acquired."
"That's getting into pretty deep water," whispered somebody.
Straight up the side of the board ran the fly, stopping on the figure seven.
"All right so far," assured Merry. "Go ahead."
The fly paused a moment, and then crept downward to the left till it rested on the eleven, where it stopped again.
There was a great hush of expectancy.
"Seven and eleven," said Frank. "That is correct. Added together, seven and eleven make how many?"
The fly slowly faced in several different directions, andthen it seemed to hop down one square, alighting on the eighteen!
It was not surprising that the audience burst into such a round of applause as had not been previously heard that evening.
Smiling triumphantly, Frank bowed in graceful acknowledgment.
When the applause was over, he ordered the fly back to the starting point.
"I will next show you that the fly can subtract as well as add," he said. "If any person will name two numbers, Solomon will deduct the lesser from the greater, and then will indicate the number that remains. All ready."
"Twenty-two and nineteen," said the red-faced man, arising so all could see him. "I think I am pretty well known here, and it will be evident that I am in no way connected with this show."
Then he sat down.
Frank gave his orders to the fly, which started out in a rambling way, pausing slightly several times.
"He's gettin' tired," piped a boy.
"This subtraction is too much for him," cried another.
"What do you think about it Solomon?" asked Merriwell, quietly. "Are you going to let them think you're about to throw up the job? Get down to business. Come, come!"
Thus urged, the fly started forward again, creeping directly to the twenty-two.
"That's the first one. Go on."
The fly turned about and crept upward at an angle till it rested on nineteen.
"Now show them how much is left when nineteen is taken from twenty-two."
Upward again at an angle in the opposite direction went the marvelous fly, and it finally stopped on three.
"Nineteen from twenty-two leaves three," called Merry, with satisfaction. "That is right!"
"Hooray!" shouted the red-faced man. "I'm going to start catching flies and teaching them to reckon! There's money in it!"
Next Frank had the fly do a sum in multiplication, following with one in division.
These feats were performed perfectly.
"If some person present will name a word containing not more than four letters, Solomon will spell it out for you," announced Frank.
"Yale."
It was the voice that had called "rats" and "fake."
"Yale it is," said Frank, who was not a little surprised. "Come on, Solomon."
From letter to letter the fly ran, swiftly spelling out the word.
"It is evident to me," said Merry, "that the person who gave that word knows me. I would like to know who the individual is. Will he please come forward?"
No one stirred.
There was a loud buzzing sound, and the fly was seen fluttering about excitedly.
"What is the matter, Solomon?" asked Frank.
"Buz-z-z-z! buz-z-zz!" came from the fly, so loudly that everyone in the theater could hear it.
"Are you trying to talk, Solomon?" laughed Merry.
"Buzz! buzz! buzz!"
"You do not know the name of the person, do you?"
"Buzz! buzz! buz-zz-zz-zz!"
Now the fly was greatly excited. It made short jumps in several directions.
"Don't be trying any of your nonsense," warned the young magician. "If you are fooling me, I shall be offended."
If possible, the insect buzzed louder than before.
"Well, if you know the name of the person, be good enough to spell it out, so I may know who has several times disturbed the performance. Go ahead, Solomon."
Now the spectators lifted themselves in their seats and stared, for the fly fairly darted out on the mirror. As the insect paused on each letter, Frank spelled out the name.
"S-p-o-r-t. That spells 'Sport,' Solomon. Are you making sport of me, or are you giving me a name? Go on. What is the rest of it?"
Away darted the fly, and Frank spelled:
"H-a-r-r-i-s—Harris! Why, that is 'Sport Harris!' A fellow by that name was my worst enemy at Yale College. Do you mean that he is here in this theater?"
Like a flash the wonderful fly spelled one word:
"Yes!"
Up at the rear of the house rose a person, who shouted:
"Yes, I'm here! Your old fly business is a fake, and I know it! You are imposing on the people!"
That person, who was no other than an old-time enemy of Merriwell's, Sport Harris himself, hurled something at the mirror.
That something was a set of brass knuckles, which the young tough carried with him constantly.
His aim was accurate.
Had the knuckles struck the mirror a smash would have followed that must have exposed the manner in which the trick was performed.
But Frank, like a flash, thrust out his left hand and caught the flying missile, preventing the catastrophe.
"The act of a ruffian!" he said, his eyes flashing. "It is exactly what I should expect from you, Harris!"
"Arrest him!" roared the red-faced man. "Where is a policeman? He'll stay in the lock-up to-night!"
The ushers started toward Harris.
"Keep away," warned the young ruffian. "If you chaps try to touch me, you'll get hurt!"
He reached toward his hip pocket, and the ushers stopped instantly.
"Call an officer!" directed Mayor Durgin, from his box. "Don't let him get away!"
"No, don't let him get away!" cried a number of voices.
There was a move toward the door.
Harris vaulted over the back row of seats and rushed to the door, where he paused, turned about, shook his fist at Frank, and shouted:
"I'll see you again! I've been wanting to see you ever since I found you had escaped my vengeance! Our account is not settled! I'll square with you!"
Dash—slam! Harris was gone.
Several hurried after him, crying for him to stop.
It was some moments before the excitement in the theater subsided.
Frank advanced to the front of the stage, and made a short speech, in which he said:
"I thank you all for your kind attention, and I trust you are satisfied with the performance given here. As announced in advance, the feats of the 'Educated Fly' will close the entertainment. All those who are not satisfied can recover their money by calling at the box office."
"Anybody who calls at the box office is too mean to live in this town," loudly declared the mayor. "Just to see the work of that fly was worth more than the price anyone paid for seats here to-night. We are satisfied with the performance, young man, and we hope you willappear here again at some future time. If you do, you may be sure that you will have a full house."
"That's right!"
"Just so!"
"You bet!"
"He's a good one!"
Cries of approval came from all parts of the theater.
"Possibly I may appear again," said Merriwell, "for I have been given his entire apparatus by Prof. Zolverein, and it may be my fortune to travel as a professional magician."
"You're all right!"
"You're a winner!"
"Zolverein picked a good man!"
"Good-night! good-night!"
The curtain fell behind Frank, shutting out the marked mirror and the wonderful fly, now resting quietly in the blank corner.
Merriwell stood at the front of the stage, bowing, as the audience departed, while the pianist marched them out with his music.
Thaddeus Burnham remained in the box office until everyone had left the theater, and then he came panting and palpitating to the dressing room, where Frank was getting into his own clothes.
"Not a cent," jubilantly cried Burnham—"not a cent did I give back! Nobody called for money! It is amazing!"
Frank smiled quietly.
"But the performance was all right," averred the manager. "I didn't suppose you could do it. And that fly business—why, that was wonderful! How in the name of creation did you do that?"
"Magicians do not give away the manner in which they perform their feats," said Merry, quietly.
"I know it, but—well, never mind. You did it, and that's enough. Come into the office, and we'll settle. You have made a tidy sum to-night."
The assistant, M. Mazarin, was standing near, looking glum and dissatisfied.
"Of course I could not have carried the thing through successfully without M. Mazarin's aid," said Merriwell, who was bound to give credit where credit was due. "He must have a liberal share of the proceeds to-night."
Even this did not clear the cloud from the man's face.
"That is for you to settle between yourselves," said Burnham. "I don't care what you do, as long as I was not forced to refund money to such a house as this was to-night. The thought that I must do so galled me terribly."
He hurried back to the box office.
Frank completed dressing, and then he observed that Mazarin was still standing there, scowling and silent.
"What is the matter?" asked Merry. "Did anything go wrong?"
"Everything has gone wrong."
"How is that?"
"Oh, it's no use to talk it over!"
"Why not?"
"Because."
"What do you mean?"
"It wouldn't make any difference."
Frank was determined to know what the man meant.
"Have I offended you in any way, M. Mazarin?" he asked.
"No," shortly.
"Then I presume we will be able to make arrangements to travel together, in case I decide to go on the road as a professional magician?"
"No!"
"Can't? I will pay you well. You shall——"
The assistant made a gesture that checked Frank.
"I was a fool to help you to-night!" he exclaimed, angrily.
Frank whistled.
"A fool? Why?"
"I have not been used right."
"By whom?"
"Zolverein."
"Ah! How was that?"
"I have been with him constantly for three years."
"Yes?"
"Yes. I was faithful to him."
"I haven't a doubt of it."
"What has he done for me?"
"I don't know."
"Nothing."
"Hasn't he used you square in a business way?"
"In a business way, perhaps. But didn't I have every reason to expect something more?"
"It is possible you did."
"And I got—nothing."
"Is that the trouble?"
"Isn't it enough? Here he gave you, almost a stranger, this apparatus, which is worth a large sum of money. Why didn't he give it to me?"
"I can't answer that question."
"Why did he give it to you?"
"Because I was fortunate enough to save his life this morning."
"You saved his life then that he might die to-night. I was shocked by his sudden death, and that is how it happened that I consented to assist you this evening. Had I thought it over, I should have refused. I might have gone on and given a performance here to-night, and I was the one to do it. I have traveled with him so long that I am perfectly familiar with all his tricks."
"Yes; but without the aid of a trained assistant, you could not have given a good performance. Who could have assisted you?"
"I would have done well enough. Zolverein did not know you could go on and give a performance. How could you have carried out the 'Educated Fly' trick without me?"
"Couldn't," Merry immediately confessed. "And I want to compliment you on the way you made the flywork. It was as natural as life. Now, even if you think you have not been used right by Zolverein, there is no reason why we should quarrel."
But Mazarin would not be pacified.
"I presume you actually mean to take the apparatus?" he asked.
"Why," said Frank, surprised, "of course! It was given to me, and, with its aid, I shall be able to go on the road and do a thriving business."
"I thought you were under contract to Barnaby Haley?"
"I am; but I have every reason to believe my engagement with him will not last much longer."
"How is that?"
"I am certain the 'Empire Theater Comedy Company' will not stay out another week."
"Well, what if it does?"
"I shall try to get Mr. Haley to let me off and fill my place with somebody else."
"Then you are determined to go on the road as a traveling magician?"
"I have about decided to do so."
"In that case, there is no chance for me to buy this apparatus from you?"
"No, I do not think there is."
Mazarin turned away, and Frank saw he was thoroughly angered.
Again Merry made an attempt to pacify the man and engage him to travel as an assistant, but it was fruitless.
"Go ahead!" cried the man. "I can't wish you good luck, and I do not believe you will have any, for you will be forced to engage another assistant. You have our ideas away up by your success to-night, but you will not duplicate it. I feel certain of that."
He was going away.
"Wait," said Frank. "I have not paid you for your aid to-night."
"And I will not take anything."
Mazarin departed.
"Well, that is unpleasant," muttered Frank; "but a fellow can't expect everything to come his way."
When he had finished dressing, he went up onto the stage to pack away the apparatus with which the "Educated Fly" trick had been performed.
The fly was placidly resting against the face of the mirror in the blank corner. Frank took it up and put it into the fake cage.
The fly was a perfect imitation of a real fly, but it was made of cork, and it had an iron core, which rested flat against the glass when everything was ready for the exhibition to begin.
In addition to a wooden back, the mirror had a cloth back, which was firmly fastened into the frame. The wooden back was hinged to the frame at the bottom, and was very strong.
When the frame was placed on the easel and the mirror rested on the floor, the space behind the easel fromthe floor up was entirely hidden. This was done when Merry took the mirror apart to exhibit it.
At that moment M. Mazarin came up through a trap-door in the floor and let down the wooden back of the frame, which formed a shelf, and on that shelf he could rest with ease. When the mirror was returned to the frame, the audience could look through beneath it, and no one could suspect that a human being was concealed back of it.
The black cloth was divided off into squares to correspond with those afterward marked on the mirror with the soap. The squares were numbered and lettered precisely the same, so that the assistant knew where every character was located on the face of the mirror.
The assistant behind the mirror was provided with a strong electro-magnet, attached to a wire running down one leg of the easel to a powerful battery under the stage.
When the assistant heard the numbers called, he placed his magnet opposite the corner where the fly was resting, and then moved it along the back of the mirror to the required square. In that manner he was able to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
The buzzing of the fly was produced by Merriwell himself, who imitated the proper sound.
Frank located Sport Harris, and recognized the fellow. Then, standing near the mirror, he whispered to Mazarin the name he wished him to spell with the aid of the magnetized fly.
Thus it will be seen that this apparently marvelousperformance was in truth a "fake," and not at all difficult to give. But it was always successful when properly done.
Merry took care of the apparatus, and then looked over the other stuff, locking up such things as he did not wish to leave out to be inspected by curious eyes.
When this was done, he went to the box office, where he found Burnham waiting for him.
"What's the matter with Mazarin?" asked the manager of the opera house.
"Why?"
"He has been here growling like a dog with a sore ear."
"He thinks Zolverein did not use him right in giving the apparatus to me."
"I thought it must be something of the kind. The fellow is cranky. You had better look out for him."
"What makes you think so?"
"He says you'll never travel on the road and make a success of it. I told him I thought you would. Then he went into the air and swore he'd make sure you didn't. I believe he is so cranky that he's dangerous."
"I hardly think so," said Merry. "I trust he will get over it."
"And you have another enemy."
"Yes. That fellow is dangerous, and I know it. Last time I saw him, he tried to burn me to death in an old barn."
"He must have a strong reason for hating you."
"Well, I drove him out of college, but not till I hadgiven him every possible chance to straighten up and do right. Fellows said I was a fool to give him such a chance, but I never like to push anybody down."
"If he and Mazarin got together, they might make it rather warm for you. Here is the account. Seventy per cent. is your share. I think you will find it all right."
Frank ran the account over. It was straight, and he pocketed a roll of money that made him feel like a millionaire. Then he bade Burnham good-night and started for the hotel.
At the hotel a surprise awaited him.
"Haow are ye, Frank?" cried Ephraim Gallup, a friend of Frank's, from Vermont, as Merry entered the office of the hotel.
The long, lank Vermonter came forward, followed by a short, fat lad, who exclaimed:
"Yaw, how you peen, ain'd id, Vrankie?"
The short lad was Hans Dunnerwurst, another friend.
"Ephraim! Hans!" gasped Frank.
"Yes, we're here, bag an' baggage, by gum!" declared the down-Easter.
"Dot peen a fact," nodded Hans, with owl-like gravity. "Der pag und paggages vos here mit us."
"Why, what does it mean?" Frank managed to ask.
"The jig's up, b'gosh!"
"Dot vos id," agreed the Dutch boy.
"I do not understand," confessed Frank. "You should be playing in Tornton to-night."
"Waal, we ain't there."
"Tornton don'd peen us in to-nighd," averred Hans.
"But why not? Has the company——"
"Busted—that's it."
"Gone der spoudt ub," further explained Hans.
"Is it possible?"
"Yas."
"Yaw."
"And you——"
"We managed to scrape together enough money to git here, an' we ketched a train that took us here all right. Jest got to this air howtel an' faound yeou was over to the theater. We was goin' right over there."
"But now you haf come ofer us to id safed us der droubles," said the Dutch boy.
Frank sat down on a chair and stared at them some seconds.
"Well," he murmured, "I thought the company would break up, but this is sooner than I expected. What's the matter?"
"Haley, the manager, skipped out."
"Haley did?"
"Yas; left ther hull craowd in ther lurch. They'd lynch him if they could git their paws onter him."
"How did he happen to skip?"
"Waal, we done a purty good business last night at Ivervale, an' the gang was shoutin' fer some dust, yeou bet. The ghost ain't walked for three weeks, an' we wanted some money to git some shirts an' collars an' things done up clean. Haley promised to cough when we got to Tornton. We all went on board the train, s'posin' he was along with the tickets. When the train started, he dropped off. That's abaout all there is to it, except me an' Hans had some stuff soaked, an' we didn't git chucked off at a little side deepoe, same's the rest of the gang did."
"Then the show is completely stranded?"
"Jest that."
"What's the name of the place?"
"Ballardvale, I believe."
"Hotel there?"
"Dunno. We didn't stop to see."
"Well, that was a miserable trick for Haley to play, but I guess most of the managers of traveling companies play it sometimes. Why did you chaps come here?"
"We knowed you'd be here."
"What of that?"
"Waal, we reckoned mebbe we'd be able to git up some kind of a three-cornered show an' keep from starvin'. That was aour scheme. I dunno haow it'll hit ye, Frank."
"I have just given a show at the opera house here."
"Yeou hev?"
"Yes."
"Whut kaind of a show?"
Then Frank explained just what had happened and what he had done, while his two friends listened in open-mouthed astonishment and admiration.
"Jest like ye, by gum!" shouted Ephraim. "Can't throw yeou down! Yeou alwus light on yeour feet!"
"Yaw," nodded Hans, "yer veet alvays lighd on you, Vrankie."
"Haow much money did ye make?" whispered Ephraim, eagerly.
Frank pulled out a large roll, on the outside of which was a fifty-dollar bill. Both lads stared at it, and then they leaned heavily against each other.
"Efy," whispered Hans, "I pelief I vos goin' to had a pad case uf heardt vailures!"
"Waal, I'm ruther dizzy myself!" gurgled the Vermonter. "Never saw so much money as that in all my life. Why don't yeou retire an' live on the intrust of it, Frank?"
"Yaw, why you don'd led der interest uf id life on you, Vrankie?" asked Hans.
"Here is just about enough to get us started on the road in good shape," said Merriwell. "We shall need every dollar of it."
"We!" squawked Ephraim.
"Us!" gasped Hans.
Merriwell nodded.
"We will go into partnership," he said. "It will take three of us to run the thing right."
The Yankee youth and the Dutch lad fell into each other's arms.
"Saved!" cried Ephraim.
"Dot's vot's der madder!" rejoiced Hans. "Oh, dot Vrank Merriwell vas a beach, you pet!"
They sat down and talked it over for a long time. Frank believed Ephraim could learn to assist him about his tricks, and he fancied Hans would be good for something. They were his old Fardale schoolmates, and he had no thought of leaving them stranded away out there so far from their homes.
By the time they had talked over their plans it was after midnight. Then Frank found himself unable to deposit his money in the safe, as the clerk had gone to bed and taken the key, and no one would assume the responsibility of awakening him.
Ephraim and Hans were given a room together.
As they went upstairs, the Vermonter said to Frank:
"Look aout for that air money, Frank. If yeou lose that, we're in the soup fer sure."
"Oh, I'll look out for it," assured Merry. "No one will think of molesting me to-night."
He little knew that these words were overheard by his worst enemy. From his own unlighted room Sport Harris peered forth, having the door slightly ajar.
"So he's taking the money to his room?" thought theyoung scoundrel. "Well, he must have a pretty good pile of it, for that was a great house. I'm rather hard up, and I wouldn't mind lifting a fat roll off that fellow."
In his stocking feet he slipped out into the hall and followed Frank, locating Merry's room.
Frank went in, closed the door and locked it.
He was pretty tired, and he lost little time in undressing. He did not give Sport Harris a single thought. In a short time he was in bed and the light was extinguished.
Tired though he was, it was some time before Frank could get to sleep, for his brain was teeming with exciting thoughts.
At last, however, he dropped off.
Frank awoke with a consciousness of danger. It seemed that a slight rustling had aroused him. In a twinkling he was on the alert, although he kept perfectly still.
There was a sliding sound near the door. Turning his eyes, he saw a dark figure slowly slipping in through the transom, which was wide open.
"Hello!" thought Frank. "Somebody is after my boodle! Well, I'll give that chap a surprise."
He reached up near the head of his bed and pushed the button there, distinctly hearing the bell ring down in the office. Again and again he pushed it, determined to arouse somebody if possible.
The intruder dropped down from the transom, and Frank shot out of bed. A second later Merriwell and the burglar were locked in each other's grasp.
The burglar uttered a gasp of astonishment as Merriwell precipitated himself on the fellow.
"Got you!" half laughed Frank.
"I don't know!"
The other twisted about like an eel.
"Hold still!"
"Not much!"
The voice was choked by the efforts of the unknown, but Frank believed he recognized it.
"So it's you, Harris!" he said. "Up to your old tricks! You are just as much a sneak as ever!"
"If I'd got in before you discovered me, you might have never called me that again!" panted Harris.
"By that I suppose you were bent on murder. Well, that is no worse than your record."
"Why don't you shout?" hissed Harris. "Why don't you arouse the hotel?"
"It isn't necessary."
"Why not?"
"Did you hear the bell ring in the office?"
"Yes."
"I pushed the button. Somebody is coming here even now. All I have to do is to hold onto you till they come."
Harris snarled and gnashed his teeth, which he tried to fasten in the back of Frank's wrist.
"Steady," said Merry. "It's no use. I've got you, and I'll hold you. I'll see that you go to prison for this."
"Never!"
"It's what you deserve, and you'll have to take your medicine at last."
Then Merry found his enemy was feeling in his bosom. Frank tried to hold his hand, but Harris succeeded in getting out a knife. With this he struck back at Merry.
"That will look all the worse for you when they come," said Merry, grimly. "You are putting yourself in a pretty bad place."
"Oh, I could kill you!" panted Harris. "You ruined my college career!"
"You are wrong."
"It is true."
"You ruined it yourself."
"No; you did it."
"I did nothing of the sort. I gave you several opportunities to brace up and become a man, but you have bad blood in you, and blood will tell. I never did anything against you that you did not force me to do."
"Oh, you will say that, but I know better. But for you, I'd be in Yale now."
"Yale is better off without you."
With a sudden twist, Harris broke Frank's hold. A cry of triumph escaped him.
"Now you get it!"
The knife was driven at Merriwell's throat.
Frank's hand caught his wrist, and the blade was stopped just as the point touched Merry's neck.
Frank gave a twisting wrench, and the bones in the wrist of the young rascal seemed to snap. A cry of pain was wrung from his lips, and the knife fell clanging to the floor.
There was a sharp knock on the door.
"Wait a minute," called Frank. "I'll let you in directly. Got my hands full now."
"What's the matter in there? What's this mean? Stepladder against the door out here."
"Caller used it to come in with," cried Frank.
Just then he found an opportunity to break away a bit from Harris, and he gave the fellow a terrible swinging blow.
Frank's fist struck Harris under the ear, and the fellow was stunned.
"Just lay there a moment," murmured Merry, as he dropped the baffled rascal on the bed and turned to open the door.
The night watchman came in. Harris tried to get up and dart out by the open door, but Merry caught him and flung him back on the bed.
"Just help me take care of him, will you?" said Frank. "He is pretty ugly, and——"
Over the foot of the bed went Harris, out of the half-open window he dived.
Frank leaped and clutched at his heels.
Too late!
"Gone!" gasped Merry.
"Well, it's more than even money that he won't go very far," said the watchman. "I'll wager something he's broken his neck by the fall to the ground."
They hurried out of the room and down the stairs, fully expecting to find Harris lying under the window.
But when they reached the spot both were amazed to discover that the fellow was not there!
Nor was he found at all, although a sharp search for him was made.
He had escaped again.
Zolverein's remains were shipped to the little Eastern town that he sometimes called home, there to be interred in the village cemetery. Frank took care that everything was properly attended to, as he felt it his duty and privilege.
M. Mazarin remained bitter toward Merriwell, and he disappeared almost as mysteriously as had Sport Harris.
Frank proceeded to fill Zolverein's engagements, taking Ephraim and Hans along with him.
"We're running a show of our own, now," he said, laughingly, "and we are out for fun, fame and fortune."
One eventful day Frank came alone to the theater for the purpose of getting something out of one of his trunks.
Entering by the stage door, he went up the stairs and onto the stage, which was dark, behind the drop curtain. He discovered a man lifting from the easel on which it had rested the large mirror which was used in the "Educated Fly" trick.
"Drop that!" shouted Frank.
"All right!"
The man promptly dropped the mirror at Frank's cry, smashing it into a thousand pieces!
"Scoundrel!"
Frank was aroused.
"Back!"
The unknown caught up a heavy Indian club, one of a set used by Merry each night in his exhibition of fancy club swinging. The club was raised aloft.
"Back, or I'll brain you!"
"Drop that!"
"On your head, if I do!"
The fellow made a threatening swing with the club. Frank ducked, dodged aside, leaped forward, caught his arm, grappled with him.
Now they were face to face, so close together that Merry could distinguish the features of the prowler.
"Sport Harris!" he shouted, astonished by the discovery.
"Yes!" snarled the other, trying to wrench his hand free.
"You here?"
"You bet!"
"What for?"
"Business."
"Deviltry, more likely! How did you get in here?"
"No matter."
"Well, you'll pay dearly for that mirror!"
"You'll never make me pay for it, you can gamble on that!"
Now Harris made a furious struggle to break away, but Frank forced him back against some scenery and pinned him there.
"It's no use, you rascal!" came from Merry's lips. "You are caught this time, and you won't get away."
"Don't be so sure," panted Frank's enemy. "I have given you the slip more than once, and now——"
He uttered a strange cry, and, a moment later, Merriwell realized there was danger behind him; but he was prevented from turning, and, all at once, a pair of small, strong hands encircled his throat, the fingers crushing into the flesh.
Frank was in a bad scrape, as he instantly understood.Harris was not alone, and his companion had caught Merry unawares.
"Choke him! choke him!" hissed Sport, with a savage laugh of satisfaction. "Now we've got him!"
Frank twisted and squirmed. For some seconds a furious struggle took place on that stage, but Harris managed to keep Merriwell from breaking the choking grip of the unknown, and those small, strong hands were crushing the life and energy out of the young magician.
"Oh, we've got you!" exulted Frank's old Yale enemy. "You can't do it, Merriwell! You came here just in time to run your head into this trap!"
Frank could make no reply, for his tongue was protruding from his mouth. In his ears there was a roaring sound, and colored lights seemed bursting and changing before his eyes.
Frank knew the venom of Harris—knew the fellow was a brute who would hesitate at nothing to satisfy his evil desire for revenge. Alone he could have handled the young ruffian easily, but the attack from behind conquered him.
He wavered, swayed, and would have fallen. They dragged him to a chair.
"Ropes!" cried Harris. "Bring them quick! We'll tie him."
The other hustled away and quickly returned. Then the two tied the unfortunate magician to the chair.
"Something for a gag," called Harris.
The other looked about, but could not find anything that suited Sport.
"Oh, never mind," said the fellow, as he took a huge clasp knife from his pocket and opened it. "If he hollers, I'll cut his throat!"
This was spoken in a way that seemed to indicate the ruffian would actually do the deed without hesitation.
Harris drew up another chair and sat down facing the captive.
Slowly Merry's strength returned. At last he was able to sit up without the support of the binding ropes.
"Ha! ha!" laughed his bitter enemy. "How do you like it? I don't believe you fancy it much. I have you now."
Frank made no reply, but he peered through the gloom at the figure of Sport's companion and assistant. There was something familiar about the slight, supple form, but it was not till the man turned so the light reached him differently that Merry recognized him.
"M. Mazarin!" he gasped, incredulously.
The little man nodded.
"Yes," he said, coldly. "Are you surprised to see me?"
"Rather."
"I suppose you expected never to see me again. You thought I had gone to leave you forever. You thought I would give up everything and let you go about the country giving exhibitions with this apparatus that should have become mine at the death of Zolverein. You fanciedI was a fool. You robbed me of what should have been mine, and I do not love you for it."
"Very fortunately," said Sport Harris, in his sneering way, "we met, became acquainted, discovered our mutual hatred for you. We are here—here to get even."
"Right," nodded the little man. "If I can't take Zolverein's place on the road, I swear you never shall!"
"It is plain that you make a fine pair," said Frank, speaking huskily, for his throat still felt the effect of the terrible pressure it had received. "You will do well together. Harris should have been in jail long ago, and it is not improbable you'll both get there before a great while."
"We'll ruin you before we go!" grated M. Mazarin. "It will take you a long time to duplicate this apparatus. Some of it you'll never be able to duplicate."
"Are you going to steal it?"
"Oh, no."
"What——"
"We are not that foolish," said the little man. "You might recover it if we stole it."
"But you are going to do something?"
"That's easy guessing," sneered Harris.
"What is it?"
"I will soon show you," said Mazarin, with a cold little laugh. "But you must keep him still, Harris."
"If he utters a chirp, I'll slit his windpipe," promised the young ruffian.
Mazarin lighted a lamp, which he placed on a smalltable. Then he took a heavy hammer, and before Frank's eyes he smashed at a single blow a box that served to enable Merry to do one of his most difficult and interesting feats.
"Now," said the malicious little man, "you know what I am going to do. I am here to destroy every bit of the apparatus you received from Zolverein. I can do it in twenty minutes."