“Not in this first envelope, but you know he brought me this other, which was taken from the body of his dead brother.”
“Then it is possible that the second envelope is the one that contains the message.”
“Yes,” nodded Frank. “I almost dread to open it, although the time to do so has come. Something seems to whisper that it contains a great surprise for me.”
Frank sat down beside the table, and, with a firm hand, tore open the envelope he regarded as the original. An exclamation escaped his lips as he drew forth the contents.
“Look, Bart!” he cried. “I was right! Nothing but blank paper!”
He held the unsoiled sheets up before the eyes of his almost breathless companion.
“By Jove! you were right!” said Hodge. “You have a way of figuring things out correctly, Merriwell. The other envelope must contain the message.”
But, strange to say, Merriwell seemed to hesitate again.
“What if it should not!” he muttered. “What if that also contains nothing but blank paper!”
“But it must contain the message!” exclaimed Bart.