Frank Merriwell's Alarm Part 19

In a moment the dwarf had disappeared.

Frank gave a breath of relief.

"Good riddance!" muttered the lad from Yale.

Then he turned to look for the person he had saved from the dwarf.

That person had disappeared.

"Gone!" exclaimed Merriwell, in astonishment and regret. "He must have been frightened away during the last of the struggle. He was weak, and he may not have gone far."

Frank resolved to search, and immediately set about doing so. He had not proceeded far when he came upon a form stretched motionless on the ground.

A hasty examination showed Frank it was a boy, who seemed to have fainted.

"It is the chap the dwarf was beating!" decided Merriwell.

He lifted the unconscious boy in his arms, tossing him over one shoulder, and started toward the lighted street.

"I must take the poor fellow to the hotel, and then we'll see what can be done for him. He seems to be in a bad way."

By the time the lighted street was reached the boy recovered consciousness. He struggled a bit, moaned slightly, and then, in a pathetic, pleading voice, he said:

"Please don't take me back to Bernard Belmont, Apollo--please don't! I know he will kill me!"

"Don't be afraid," said Frank, gently. "I am not taking you to any one who will harm you."

A cry of astonishment broke from the boy.

"Why," he exclaimed, "you are not Apollo!"

"No; I am Frank Merriwell. Who is Apollo?"

"A dwarf--a wretch--the hired tool of Bernard Belmont! Oh, he is a monster, without heart or soul!"

"He must be the one with whom I had the lively little set-to."

"You--you came to my aid--you saved me from him! How can I thank you!

But I thought he would kill you!"

"And so he might if you hadn't helped me throw him off. You did it just in time, and I believe you saved my life."

"Oh, but he had a knife--I could see it! And I knew he would use it.

He has such wonderful strength."

"He is strong."

"Strong! I do not see how you held him off! But I could see him forcing the knife nearer and nearer, and I grew frantic, for it seemed that you would be killed before my eyes."

"I was rather anxious myself," confessed Frank, with something like a laugh.

"It was a nasty position."

"I don't know how I dared touch him, but I remember that I did. Then you flung him off and got up. After that, I remember that you were fighting, and I felt sure you could not conquer him. He would get the best of you in the end, and then he'd finish me. I was scared and tried to run away; but I did not go far before I became sick and weak, and--and I don't remember anything more."

"You fainted."

"And you whipped Apollo?"

"Not exactly. I knocked him down a few times, but he seemed to spring to his feet almost as soon as he went down. Then somebody brought a light to a window and he was scared away."

The boy clung to Frank.

"He did not go far!" he excitedly whispered. "He is not far away! He is liable to spring upon us any time! Bernard Belmont has sent him for me, and he will not rest till he gets me. Oh, I must get away--quick--to my sister! She is near--so near now! But my strength is gone, and--and----"

The boy began to cough, and each convulsion shook him from head to feet. There was a hollow, dreadful sound about that cough--a sound that gave Frank a chill.

"Never mind if your strength is gone," said Merriwell, encouragingly.

"You'll get along all right, for I'll stick by you and see that you do."

"You are so kind!"

"What's your name?"

"George Morris."

"Where do you live--here in Carson?"

"Oh, no, no! I live in Ohio."

"That is a long distance away."

"Yes, sir."

"How do you happen to be here?"

The boy hesitated, seeming in doubt and fear, and then, with what appeared to be a sudden impulse, he said:

"I am going to tell you--I am going to tell you everything. Put me down here. Let's rest. I am tired, and I must be heavy."

They sat down on some steps, the boy seeking to keep in the shadow, showing he feared being seen.

"It's--it's like this," he began, weakly. "I--I ran away."

"Oh-ho!" exclaimed Frank.

The lad quickly, almost fearfully, clutched his arms.