“Let go, pard—let go!” grated the Texan. “Let me smash that cur!”
“Where are the police?” exclaimed Fernald. “I’ll have him arrested!”
“You’re crazy, Brad!” said Dick. “What ails you?”
“I know what ailed me to-day!” panted the Fairhaven catcher. “I was drugged! This low-down coyote paid the waiter here to get the stuff into me! Stand back, pard, and let me square up the score!”
It required all of Merriwell’s strength to hold the furious lad back.
“How do you know this, Brad?” demanded Dick.
“Just heard them talking right here by this window.”
“That’s a lie!” asserted Fernald. “Where’s Knox? He’ll say it’s a lie!”
But the fellow who had been knocked down by Buckhart was not to be found. He had picked himself up and hurried away as he saw the people gather in front of the hotel.
Finding Knox had fled, Fernald became still more bold.