CHAPTER XXVA PLOT
“Did you suspect me before Gus Kiggins told you to?”
“Now, look here, Dan Richards, you’re making a fool of yourself! Don’t you suppose I ever have an idea of my own?”
“I do.”
“You don’t act as if you did. Look here, Dan, what’s the trouble between you and Gus, anyway? Are you jealous of him?”
“Not to my knowledge,” replied Dan with a smile.
“He thinks you are.”
“You can put his mind at ease on that score.”
“Then what is it? Are you afraid of him?”
“Now you’ve found it.”
“You are? He thinks you are, but I never would have believed it of you.”
“I am.”
“He is a powerful brute.”
“I agree with you.”
“And he’s the best boxer in the school.”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” said Dan quietly.
“Well, I don’t know that I blame you,” laughedWalter. “He isn’t exactly the kind of a chap I’d like to run up against on a dark street when I was all alone.”
“I’m more afraid of him in the daytime when he’s with others.”
“What do you mean by that?” demanded Walter sharply.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Look here, Walter,” said Dan earnestly. “I don’t mean to preach to you. I know I’m only a countryman and you’ve had lots of chances that I haven’t. But if I had as clear and quick a mind as you have and then had such chances to develop it as you have here in this school, do you know what I’d do?”
“Yes. You’d buckle down to work.”
“I certainly should.”
“You don’t know everything, Dan,” said Walter, his pleasure at his roommate’s words arousing his good nature, as unstinted praise never failed to do. “I hate the stuff we’re getting here. Latin and algebra and physics! Bah! They make me sick. What good are they anyway? We’ll never use them again after we get out of this old trap.”
“Walter, did you ever see a fireman shoveling coal under the boiler of a locomotive?”
“Occasionally,” laughed Walter.
“What do you suppose he does it for?”
“Oh, for about sixty or seventy dollars a month.”
“Well, even if that is so, why does the company pay him that to do that work?”
“To heat up the boiler and get up steam.”
“Precisely. He doesn’t shovel that coal to get more coal or because he expects to use that coal again, does he?”
“What are you driving at anyway?”
“I may be all wrong, but my idea is something like this—just as a fireman shovels the coal, not to get more coal but to get steam, so I think the work here is not to get things we’ll use again, but to get or do things that will give us——”
“Steam?” broke in Walter with a laugh.
“Yes, sir! That’s it exactly. I’ve a funny idea that when a fellow shirks or dodges his work he’s really the fellow to suffer. He doesn’t cheat the teacher half so much as he cheats himself. He’s just subtracting that much power from himself, that’s all.”
“Dan, you’re a funny chap.”
“I know it, but I don’t believe I’m half so ‘funny’ as the fellow is who throws away such chances as he has here in the Tait School.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised if you were right. I wish I were like you, Dan. It’s easy for some fellows. But then you’ve got everything to get and I’ve got everything without any getting. My pater has more money than he knows what to do with; he’s got a big business and I’ll have a share in that by and by——”
“If you’re strong enough and able to hold it,” broke in Dan.
“I’m not afraid of that. I’ll give you a job some day, maybe, but I know it would please the old folks at home if I should take hold; I’m half inclined to try it.”
Perhaps the fact that Walter was only “half” inclined was the explanation of the fact that his good resolution lasted only a few weeks. For a time he did try, but his will was weak and he was so far behind in his studies that the work was doubly hard. In the end he relapsed into his old ways and spent more and more time with Gus Kiggins, while the renewed good-fellowship between the two roommates, which to Dan’s delight had been in evidence, was soon broken. Walter became more irritable and his feeling for Dan apparently was one of increasing dislike.
But the days of the winter term passed rapidly and when spring arrived the prospects of the nine and the position it would secure in the new league became the absorbing matter of interest. Dan did his utmost to avoid meeting Gus Kiggins and was rejoiced as the days passed to find that apparently the effort was mutual. The two boys seldom met except on the diamond and there was no dispute as to Dan’s right to occupy the pitcher’s box. The players, the coach, and indeed the entire school, all were agreed, and great things were expected from Dan’s work.
Meanwhile Gus Kiggins doggedly continued to practise pitching and his work was of such a character that he was looked upon as the substitute pitcher in addition to his work on first base, where he was acknowledged to be supreme.
Little Carlton Hall had learned a few lessons not taught in the classroom and somehow had weathered the storms, although he still was not without his attentions from Gus Kiggins and others. His deep affection for Dan had increased steadily, and it was Dan who had strengthened the younger boy’s spirit of self-reliance and determination so that at last he had decided to remain in school, though his life there was not one of unalloyed pleasure.
The first game of the league was now at hand. The nine of the Military Academy and their supporters were to come the following day, and excitement ran high in the Tait School. Dan, in spite of his quiet manner, was perhaps more excited than any of his fellows, realizing as he did how much success or failure would mean to him.
The afternoon before the game Ned was surprised when Carlton Hall came to his room. “What’s wrong, young man?” Ned demanded as he became aware of the excitement of his visitor.
At the boy’s reply Ned was as much aroused as his caller, and seizing Carlton by the shoulders he demanded: “How do you know? Say that again! Be careful now!”
“It’s just as I told you,” said Carlton.
“Say it again,” demanded Ned sharply.
“I was feeling lonesome,” began Carlton obediently, “and I wanted to be alone. I went over to those bushes back of the library and just stretched myself on the ground there behind them. While I was lying there Gus Kiggins and Walter Borden came along and sat down on that bench the other side of the lilac bushes.”
“How did you know who it was?”
“I peeked. I was just going to try to crawl away without being seen when I heard Gus say, ‘We’ll fix the pious fraud.’”
“Go on. What did Walter say?”
“He said, ‘I hate to do it, Gus.’”
“Did Gus say what he wanted Walter to do?”
“You’re right he did.”
“What was it?”
“He wanted Walter to put some stuff in the water Dan drank or in something he ate before the game to-morrow.”
“What did he want him to put in it?”
“Ipecac. Gus said, ‘That’ll make him sick enough to quit the box and it won’t hurt him a bit, either.’”
“What did Walter say then?”
“He said he didn’t want to do it. He said he didn’t like Dan any better than Gus did, but he didn’t want to go into any such low-down trick as that.”
“I should think he wouldn’t want to,” said Ned savagely. “But he agreed in the end that he’d do it?”
“Yes. I think Gus knew something that Walter was afraid he’d tell if he didn’t agree.”
“The sneak! Did you hear either of them say when the trick was to be played?”
“Some time just before the game.”
“How long did you lie there?”
“All the time they were talking. I wanted to get away, but I didn’t dare move. If Gus Kiggins had found me he would have killed me,” said Carlton, shuddering as he spoke.
“What did you do then?”
“I waited till they went away and then I put for your room as fast as my legs could carry me.”
“Did you hear anything more?”
“That was all they talked about. Gus said if Walter would get Dan out of the pitcher’s box, then he would see to it that he—I mean Walter—was elected captain of the nine for next year.”
“They’re a noble pair!” exclaimed Ned in disgust. “You’re sure you haven’t lisped a word of this to anyone?”
“Not a soul.”
“Then don’t. Don’t let a whisper of it get out.”
“I won’t,” promised Carlton. “But you’ll see that nothing happens to Dan, won’t you?” he added eagerly.
“Rest your infantile soul on that!” said Nedangrily. “Now, you’d better go. I shouldn’t want Gus to find you here. If he should ever hear that you have told me what you have, what do you suppose would happen to you?”
“Gus would——” The lad stopped with a shudder.
“Of course he would,” said Ned sternly. “You mustn’t let a word of this get out—not a word! Do you understand?”
“Yes,” replied Carlton; “but I don’t want anything to happen to Dan——”
“Didn’t I tell you there wouldn’t?” broke in Ned.
“Yes; but I’m afraid. My! if Dan couldn’t pitch to-morrow and the Military Academy should beat us——”
“Go home and lock yourself in your room, for fear you’ll let out something about this! I’ll look after it. Don’t you be afraid! If you’ve told me the truth——”
“I’ve told you just what I heard Gus say,” broke in the little fellow.
“That’s all right, Carlton,” said Ned soothingly, as he saw the fear expressed on the face of his small visitor. “I’m glad you came straight to me. I’ll look after it. Now, run along like a good little boy.”
“I’m going,” said Carlton, turning toward the door. Then facing Ned, he said tremblingly, “If Gus should find out that I’d told you——”
“He won’t!”
“But if he should?”
“Don’t be scared. We’ll attend to Gus at the proper time.”
“Maybe it won’t be till after he has killed me.”
“Don’t you give up the ghost till you have to,” said Ned to his frightened visitor. “Good night, Carlton. Don’t forget to root your prettiest to-morrow when Dan strikes out the heavy hitters of the Military Academy. We may need every voice;” and Ned immediately sought Dan, whom he found alone in his room. “How are you, Dan?” he inquired as he seated himself in an easy chair and looked keenly at his friend. “Feeling fit for the game to-morrow?”
“My pedal extremities are a trifle chilly,” said Dan good-naturedly.
“I’ll risk them. That isn’t what I’m afraid of.”
“What has frightened you? The nine of the Military Academy?”
“No.”
“What then?”
“I’m afraid for you, Dan.”
“Afraid of me? Well, I don’t know that I blame you. I’m almost afraid myself——”
“I didn’t say I was afraid of you, Dan. I said I was afraid for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve just heard of the dirtiest trick ever conceived by mortal man.”
“What is it?” inquired Dan quietly, as he looked steadily into Ned’s face.
“It’s a trick to put you out of the game.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a scheme to feed you on ipecac just before the game begins.”
“If I don’t swallow it I sha’n’t have any trouble, shall I?”
“No. But——”
“Who is to do the trick?”
“You can guess who is behind it. It’s the lowest, meanest thing I ever heard of! If I really believed it all, I’d——”
“Don’t you believe it?” broke in Dan.
“I don’t know just what to think. I confess I’m afraid.”
“You haven’t told me just what it is that scares you.”
Thus bidden, Ned, without mentioning any names, related what Carlton had reported to him. “What do you think, Dan?” he asked, when he had completed his story.
“I don’t believe there’s a fellow in the school who would be guilty of such a low trick!” said Dan positively. “I guess it’s a false alarm. We’re all nervous over the game.”
“Maybe that’s so,” said Ned, his countenance brightening a little. “Still, it’s better to be on the safe side,” he added cautiously.
“What can be done?”
“You can be on your guard anyway.”
“I might not eat or drink anything,” suggested Dan with a smile. “Then I’d be safe anyway.”
“And be in no condition for the game. No; I’ll tell you what we’ll do, Dan.”
“What?”
“To-morrow we’ll stick together after luncheon till the game is called.”
“That won’t be much of a hardship,” said Dan lightly.
“No; but if both of us are on the lookout it won’t be likely that anything can be done.”
“All right. I’m agreed, though I haven’t a bit of fear.”
“I’m glad you haven’t; I wish I were all clear in my mind too. But I’m not. We’ll keep both eyes open, Dan. Hello!” he added; “here comes Walter and Smith and Gus Kiggins.”
The three boys entered the room and at once the subject of the game on the following day became the topic of conversation. To Dan’s surprise, both Walter and Gus appeared to be unusually friendly. Apparently all the feeling of jealousy which the latter openly had manifested toward Dan was gone and Walter glowingly predicted at least twelve strike-outs for his roommate.
“Of course we want to win this game,” Walter said glibly. “If we can get those fellows scared, we’ll have an advantage in the other five league games we’ll have to play. Still, ‘one swallowdoesn’t make a summer,’ and we’ll not cry if this game goes against us.”
“We aren’t going to lose this game if every fellow backs up Dan,” said Ned quietly.
“That’s just what we’re going to do,” declared Smith.
“That’s the idea,” said Gus. “If every fellow doesn’t do his level best, then we’ll know the reason why. I guess Samson has given it to the nine straight. He says he’s just a little afraid some one of us may put himself out of condition by eating or drinking something that won’t agree with him. I never saw Samson so nervous as he is over this game. Next year he’ll get his training table. He says the doctor has at last agreed. I think it will be a fine thing myself.”
Dan glanced quietly at Ned while Gus was speaking and saw an expression on his face that caused the young pitcher to rise and say, “Well, it’s time for me to go to bed. You fellows can go right on with your talk, but a good long sleep does more for me than all your patent methods put together.”
“There goes the warning bell anyway,” said Smith, as the chapel-bell rang out. “We’ll all try Dan’s cure for nerves.” And the visitors at once departed from the room.
If Dan, in his heart, believed any reliance was to be placed on what Ned had said to him concerning the plot, he did not betray his fear in any way.
There was an air of only partly subdued excitement in the school the following morning, but if Dan was watchful not even Ned was aware of his friend’s caution. The game was to be called at three o’clock. At luncheon-time Ned stopped at Dan’s room and the two boys went together to the dining-hall.
“You see,” said Ned lightly, “I’m sticking to you like a brother. I don’t intend to let you get out of my sight one second between now and the game. I hope you’ll appreciate my oversight.”
“Glad to have you, though you’ll have your trouble for your pains,” replied Dan.
“I hope so,” was all that Ned said in response.
The excitement of the morning was more manifest as the boys entered the dining-room. There were many glances of curiosity at the long table where the boys from the Military Academy were seated as the guests of the Tait School.
“A fine-looking team,” said Gus Kiggins, as he seated himself beside Walter, whose place at the table was next to Dan’s. Opposite them sat Ned and Smith and Hodge.
“They’ll make us know we’ve been playing a game before we’re done,” said Hodge in response to the statement of Gus.
“You’re right they will,” joined in Smith. “Dan, we’re all looking to you to uphold the honor of the school,” he added, as he looked across the table at the school pitcher.
“Oh, say something nice to Dan,” growled Walter. “He’s got troubles enough of his own without rubbing it in. What’s the matter, Dan?” he added; “you look pale. Anything wrong?”
“Not a thing,” replied Dan with a smile. “I never went into a game feeling better in my life. If I don’t do all that you want me to I sha’n’t be able to charge it up to the way I feel.”
“That’s the way to talk!” growled Gus without looking up. “Say, fellows,” he added, “I’ve ordered some apollinaris lemonade for the nine. Samson won’t let us drink any water during the game, you know.”
“You’re all right, Gus!” exclaimed Hodge. “I hope you’ll make an extra home run to-day.”
The glasses were placed beside the plates, and as Ned looked keenly at Dan he shook his head slightly.
“I’ll tell you what, fellows,” said Smith, “I’m never superstitious except before a ball game. Let’s all change glasses for luck.”
“That’s the idea!” joined in Ned with a sudden eagerness. “We’ll all exchange. Here, Smith, you give yours to Hodge, I’ll give you mine, and I’ll take Hodge’s.”
“That’s all nonsense,” exclaimed Gus abruptly.
“‘A little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men,’” spoke up Ned. “Try it, fellows. Can’t do any harm anyway.”
Dan laughingly had exchanged his glass for Walter’s, though the latter was not aware of theexchange, as at that moment he was looking back at the table where the opposing nine was seated.
“Have it your own way,” said Ned, who had seen the exchange, which had been unnoticed by the others.
In a brief time the boys arose and passed out of the hall.
“Be down at the dressing-room at two sharp,” he called as the boys separated after they had left the building.