Darrel caught his uncle’s sleeve, drew his head down, and whispered to him earnestly. The colonel shook his head, but Ellis continued to insist, and finally his uncle yielded.
“Ellis asks me to temper my indignation a little,” said he, “and to be a little more lenient. His motive does him credit, after the way he has suffered at your hands, Jode. You can go to my house and collect your traps; and, when you leave, I will give you a thousand dollars to make a fresh start in the world. Now, clear out! You go with him, Shoup!” he added.
Jode got up and staggered from the room. Shoup followed him, turning at the door to laugh derisively, and bid those in the room a mocking good-by.
“Sufferin’ horn toads!” muttered Hawkins, “that’s no way to treat a law breaker.”
“Better that, Hawkins,” answered the colonel, “than to put Shoup through for his crimes and not get the evidence to clear Darrel. My lad, will you now honor me with your hand?”
Darrel pressed the colonel’s palm joyfully, and then whirled to shake hands with Merriwell.
“You’re the one who did it, old man!” he exclaimed, in a trembling voice. “If it hadn’t been for you, Chip, I’d still be the ‘boy from Nowhere.’”
THE END.
“Frank Merriwell, Jr. in Arizona” will be the title of the next volume of the Merriwell Series, No. 217. Frank’s adventures in the West make up an absorbing tale.