"All right," said Merriwell. "Off they come."
But barely were they removed than the spy raised a wild shout for help.
They flung themselves on Cranch again, soon gagging him more securely than before.
"Might have known I could not trust him!" muttered Dick. "Come on, fellows; let’s get him away from here."
And soon they had vanished into a fringe of dark woods, where a lonesome owl was hooting now and then.
CHAPTER XXI.
A HOT START.
"Mr. Lincoln" failed to return to the hotel that night. The following day Jabez Lynch called at the hotel to inquire for the young man, and was told of his rather singular disappearance.
Jabez left the hotel in a somewhat puzzled state of mind, but soon decided that "Lincoln" had obtained the information he desired and taken a hurried departure from Fardale.
Then it was that Jabez fancied he saw an opportunity to increase his pocket-money, for Fardale’s past victories had made the cadets rather confident in regard to the future, and some of them were willing to risk a little in backing the academy team.
In an unostentatious way Jabez proceeded to seek bets, which he found. He protested that he hoped to see Fardale win again, but said he was satisfied that Viewland would prove superior. Whenever he succeeded in raising an argument on this point he offered to back his conviction with coin of the country, and, therefore, it was not long before he had wagered his last dollar.