“A little, Bleek,” said Frank, “but not a whole lot. My father has told me that a fellow must build his own character, and not try to blame his folks when he goes wrong. But, look here. After the way Lenning showed himself up to the colonel, at the time Darrel saved him from the blast, I suppose there’s a coolness between the two? Certainly Lenning isn’t still on the Gold Hill eleven?”
“The colonel’s a queer stick,” was the answer. “There’s been no flare-up between the two, and Jode is still king bee at the Gold Hill Athletic Club. What do you make out of that?”
Merriwell was astounded. How was it possible for the stern old colonel, after having Jode’s “yellow streak” show itself so clearly under his very eyes, still to keep on friendly terms with the fellow? Merriwell was not only amazed, but a bit indignant.
[CHAPTER XL.]
THE MYSTERIOUS BILLY SHOUP.
“That gets my goat, and no mistake!” said Merriwell disgustedly. “For doing nothing at all, Colonel Hawtrey drives Darrel out of his house, but when Lenning shows himself a cur, the colonel hasn’t a thing to say. It makes me sick!”
“It’s certainly a brain twister, the way Hawtrey acts,” muttered Bleeker. “All Gold Hill is sitting up nights, trying to figure it out. Somehow, you know, it doesn’t seem like the old colonel at all. He’s sharp and savage when anything ruffles him, and people just about expected he’d flay Lenning and nail his hide to the front door. All he did, though, was to pat Lenning on the shoulder and congratulate him on the way he got clear of the coyote dog.”
Merriwell acted as though he was stunned. His feelings, at that moment, were too deep for words.
“Lenning,” Bleeker went on, “had already asked the colonel to send for this chap Guffey to coach the eleven. Lenning, as captain of the Gold Hill eleven, was scared by the way the Ophir boys held his squad in that practice game you had at Tinaja Wells. He wanted a bang-up coach, and asked the colonel for Guffey. Nobody had ever heard of Guffey—that is, nobody except Lenning—and the colonel sort of held off about getting him. It wasn’t until after Jode showed his yellow streak that the colonel had Guffey come on. They say he’s a whirlwind.”
“How old is he?” Merry inquired, his interest taking a new tack.