CHAPTER VI
A STRONG CASE.
Dick Merriwell, stunned as he was by the news that Bowen had brought him, did not for a moment believe that Jim Phillips was guilty of the charge made against him. But he recognized that it was a serious matter, and one that must be investigated without delay. Bowen’s protest had been eminently reasonable, and Yale could neither ignore it nor refuse to disqualify Phillips. The evidence presented was all against him, so far, and Dick understood that he must at once proceed to gather some witnesses who could testify in favor of the accused pitcher.
His first step, taken even before informing Jim of the charge, was to find Chetwind, the country club member who had supplied Bowen with confirmation of the anonymous charge against Jim. He knew Chetwind, not very well, but well enough to go to him direct, and he went at once to the office of the principal witness in the case, as he already regarded him. Chetwind was a real-estate broker, and no time was wasted when Dick was ushered into his private room.
“I can guess why you are here, of course, Merriwell,” said Chetwind, raising a distressed face to Dick. “What Bowen has, I suppose, told you is true. I was told that Phillips would not consent to pitch for us unless he received a hundred dollars in cash, and, being anxious to win the game, I put up the money myself, and sent it to him in a registered letter. Here is the receipt.”
“Have you a witness to the fact that there was a hundred dollars in the letter?” asked Dick.
“Yes,” said Chetwind. “The clerk at the post-office saw me put the money—two fifty-dollar bills—in the envelope. I then sealed it and handed it to him.”
Certainly that looked very bad. Dick had seized upon the thought that the letter might not have contained money at all, but Chetwind’s witness banished that hope.
“Who told you that Phillips wanted money to play on the team?” asked the universal coach then.
“That I cannot tell you,” said Chetwind firmly.
“Consider this matter seriously,” said Dick. “I’m not going to say anything about your own dishonorable action in trying to introduce a man you thought was a professional into an amateur game. But here is a man, a student of your own college, accused of a serious offense, that will hurt not only him, but Yale. Have you the right to withhold any facts that may clear up the case?”