“I’ll have to take that manuscript now, Merriwell. The curtain goes up in two minutes.”
CHAPTER XVII.
FRANK’S FIRST APPEARANCE.
Frank stood behind the scenes, ready to make his first entrance. Outwardly he was as calm as a clock, but inwardly he was not so calm. Anyone looking at him closely must have observed that his eyes shone with a strange light. Whether his face was pale or not could not be told, for the make up concealed that.
The play had started off all right, and already the audience was giving it close attention.
The house was good.
Cassie had found an opportunity to whisper to Frank:
“Keep a stiff upper lip, my boy. I’ll bet on you. You’re a winner, and I know it.”
“Thank you, Cassie,” he smiled, quietly.
“Dunton’s the one that’s liable to go to pieces to-night, for he’s in a deuce of a state. He’s been drinking, too. I’ll bet he gets stiff after the show. That fellow hates you so he’d like to kill you now. Look out for him.”