“I sure do,” answered the visitor. “Mebbe you can tell me when he’ll git back. My name is Bill Bugle, and I’m a cow-puncher from the Bar Z. You see the boy’s old man axed me would I drop round and see him and bring back a report as to how he was gittin’ along here. Who are you?”
“My name is Merriwell, and I’m——”
“Put her thar!” shouted Bugle, extending his hand. “Why, you’re Brad’s kid pard. You’re the youngster he’s writ so much about to his old man. I’m certain powerful glad to meet up with you.”
Maggie retreated, leaving them together, and in a very short time Dick and the visitor became surprisingly friendly. The door into the hall was closed, and, listening from the stairs some minutes later, Miss Swazey heard Dick and Bugle laughing in the most friendly manner. They seemed to be enjoying something like a joke.
A little later Dick gave out the contents of the letter he had received. When its genuineness was doubted he asserted that the writing looked like that of Buckhart, and he was confident the Texan would show up in Providence according to his promise.
Among the freshmen who accompanied the team to Providence were to be seen the entire Ditson crowd. On reaching the city they took a suite of rooms at a medium-priced hotel, and immediately pooled every dollar they could raise for the purpose of betting against Yale.
“It’s a dead cinch!” Mike Lynch asserted. “Without Buckhart behind the bat Merriwell will be hammered out of the box.”
“But how do you know for a fact that he won’t have Buckhart?” inquired Mel Daggett. “Of course we all know that the Texan isn’t with the team, but they say Merriwell has heard from him and he’s promised to be in the game.”
“That’s all right, Mel,” smiled Duncan Ditson knowingly. “We have reasons to know that Buckhart won’t show his nose on the field to-morrow. He won’t be in the game, so don’t you worry about your money. Here’s where we fellows make a clean-up that will put us on our feet again.”
“If we don’t,” said Jim Poland; “if we lose, I’m ruined this time. I don’t know how I’m going to raise another dollar.”