Frank Merriwell's Races Part 53

More than that, he had changed his clothes, as the suit he had on was not the same he had worn during the run!

Paul staggered in, and dropped limply on the couch, staring at Frank, as if he saw a ghost.

"Look--here--Merriwell," he panted, "what--are--you--made--of?

Are--you--run--by--steam?"

"Oh, no!" laughed Frank. "I beg your pardon for leaving you in such a manner, but you know you had become so very unsociable that I had to do----"

Pierson made a weak gesture, and interrupted with:

"Don't apologize for that--it was the agreement that one should run away from the other, if possible, on the way back. You had a right to do it."

"What is all this about?" asked Rattleton, in a mystified manner. "What have you fellows been doing?"

"Don't you know?" cried Paul, amazed.

"No, I don't know," declared Rattleton. "Frank walked into the room a short time ago, went into his bedroom, took a sponge bath and changed his clothes, and we have been telling stories since then."

"Took a sponge bath?" shouted Pierson, popping bolt upright.

"Jerusalem. You talk as if he had been here half an hour! I will admit that this beats anything I ever experienced!"

Then he flopped down on the couch again, as if utterly overcome.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

AN INCENTIVE TO WIN.

Paul Pierson had made a discovery that night, and, before he left, he told Frank Merriwell to put himself into condition to enter one of the races at the Madison Square Garden tournament in New York.

"You seem to be in pretty good condition now," he said, with a grim smile; "but you know whether you can improve your condition or not. If you can, do it, for you are liable to be pitted against men who will give you a decidedly hotter time than you have ever struck."

"All right," said Frank, quietly. "You'll find that I shall be in shape, and I'll do my best to be a credit to Old Yale."

"You have been a credit to Yale ever since the day you entered college,"

said Pierson, sincerely. "To-night has settled one thing in my mind. I believe you are a wonder in almost anything in the way of athletics."

"Oh, not a wonder!" said Frank. "But you can be sure that I am bound to do my level best in anything I attempt."

"I know it! I am not sure I'll be able to get you on, but I am going to try to run you into the one-mile race. We have some men for the shorter dashes, but do not seem to have but one man besides yourself who can be considered for the mile run. He has been in training for some time, and the committee had nearly decided on him. Now I am satisfied that you are the better man, but I'll have to satisfy the others."

"I want you to bear witness that I have not worked to fill the place of any other fellow."

"It might be better for Yale if you would work for such things," growled Pierson. "You will not find other fellows holding back. If any chap is capable of filling your place at anything, you may be sure he will fill it, and he'll never stop to consider your feelings about the matter."

"That is rust jite--I mean just right!" cried Rattleton, approvingly.

"Well, I am going to my rooms and take a rub down," said Paul.

"Good-night, fellows."

"Good-night, Mr. Pierson."

When the door had closed behind Paul, Rattleton executed a grotesque dance on the carpet.

"Whoop!" he softly cried. "Didn't I knock him silly when I pretended not to know anything about the run this evening! Oh, wheejiz--er, jeewhiz!

he nearly fainted when I told him you calmly walked into the room, took a sponge bath, put on another suit, and then we had been telling stories."

"You rascal!" cried Frank, laughing and giving Harry a shake. "That was all your own work. I didn't know you were thinking of running such a bluff on him."

"Never thought of it myself till he came in," chuckled Harry. "Between us we managed to get you out of your other clothes, give you a quick rub, and jump you into a fresh suit before Pierson showed up."

"It has been a very enjoyable evening," smiled Frank, as he again deposited himself on the easy-chair. "If I had planned to have sport with Pierson, I could not have worked it better. You should have heard me panting and puffing along behind him on our way out! You should have heard him bidding me good-by when we started to come back! And then you should have heard me asking him if he was ill when I got ready to leave him!"

Harry laughed in the heartiest manner, as his imagination supplied the picture.

"It is too good!" he cried. "And you will go into the mile run sure!

Browning caused Pierson to tackle you."

"It seems that I have done pretty well in athletic matters this spring,"

said Frank, "and I was rather indifferent concerning the matter of taking any prominent part in the tournament at Madison Square. However, if I can do anything to uphold the standard of Old Eli, I want to do my best."

"Frank, if you run in that race, you will win," came soberly from Harry's lips. "I shall stake every dollar I can rake on you. If you do win, I'll have enough cash to take me through the summer vacation we have planned."

The door had been softly opened, and the most of Rattleton's speech was overheard by a third person, who now exclaimed:

"And I'm going to bank my cash on you, Merriwell! If you win, I'll--I'll--why, hang me! I'll make that trip across the continent with you!"

It was Bruce Browning, who advanced into the room.

"Are you in earnest about that, Bruce?" asked Frank.

"You bet I am in earnest!" was the a.s.surance.

"You will try to pump a bicycle from New York to San Francisco?"

"Try it! Confound it! I tell you I'll do it if you win the mile run for Old Yale!"

"Then," said Frank, "I have a double object to work for, and I am going to win if it is in my body to do so!"

Rattleton was astonished to see Browning show so much animation.

"Why, you actually appear like your old self!" he exclaimed.

Bruce sat down.

"Tell me about it," he invited, speaking to Frank. "Some of the fellows said they saw you and Pierson chasing yourselves, and I caught what Rattleton was saying just as I came in."