As Frank entered the room, Colonel Hawtrey got up and took him by the hand.
“Mighty glad to see you again, Merriwell,” said he, “but I hope nothing Lenning has said has brought you here.”
“Hello, my boy,” smiled Mr. Bradlaugh, waving Merriwell to a chair. “This looks like a plot, with Hannibal at the bottom of it. You needn’t go, Han. You’ve got Merriwell here, now stay and see the matter through.”
Merry and Brad seated themselves.
“I hear that Jode Lenning has asked for a job at the mine,” remarked Frank, a little embarrassed to find himself in danger of crossing the colonel’s will at such close quarters.
“That’s what has happened,” replied Mr. Bradlaugh. “We need a watchman at the cyanide plant for night duty. That’s the work Lenning applied for. It’s a responsible position, and a man is needed badly and at once. The superintendent, knowing Lenning’s character was not of the best, referred the matter to me. It’s against our policy to hire any one whose record is not clean, so I turned Lenning down. Then he said that he thought you would be responsible for him. I haven’t an idea that you’re looking for such a protégé,” laughed the general manager, “and your coming here is quite a surprise. I called up the colonel, and he took the trouble to come over. From what he says, I don’t believe we can consider Lenning’s application at all.”
“If you hire him, Bradlaugh,” said the colonel, “you’ll do it without any recommendation from me. Lenning is a graceless scamp. The company he keeps is the worst imaginable. Why, in a week he ran through with a thousand dollars, which I gave him to use in making something of himself—squandered it at the gambling tables in Gold Hill, with that rascal Shoup to help him. His latest exploit is such as to make me blush to think that he is my dead sister’s son. Highway robbery—with a poor, old lady for the victim! By George, he ought to have been arrested and put through for that.”
“Colonel,” said Frank, “you haven’t all the facts connected with that robbery. It was Shoup who stole the money, and it was Lenning who took it away from him and returned it to its rightful owner.”
The colonel’s eyes narrowed.
“Merriwell,” said he, with a trace of annoyance, “I know more than you think. Lenning wanted to revenge himself upon you for some fancied wrong, and that was why he and Shoup went to the camp in the gulch. Lenning took the money from his scoundrelly companion and hid it away; then, aided by Shoup, he attempted to roll a bowlder from Apache Point and smash the canoe in which you and one of your friends were racing past the foot of the cliff. His villainous attempts failed. He and Shoup tried to clear out. As they crossed the river in a stolen canoe, in order to reach their horses, Shoup struck Lenning with a paddle. Shoup got away, and you saved Lenning from drowning. He——”