“And you think you know one of them?”
“Yes.”
“Who was it?”
“That is something I will tell you later. Shiner Gregg may be induced to squeal. Look out for an explosion, Creighton. It is coming.”
Two days later, while walking along one of Philadelphia’s principal streets, Merriwell noticed a fellow who was blocking the path of a girl with his person and speaking to her excitedly, although she was trying to pass to reach a carriage that stood at the curb.
“It’s Hegner!” muttered Frank. “And the girl is—Fanny Darling! She is trying to avoid him, and the rascal is—— Confound him!”
The exclamation escaped Frank’s lips as he saw Wallace Hegner grasp the girl by the wrist, lean forward and hiss something in her ear.
Frank made a spring, and as he came forward, Hegner happened to turn his head slightly and see him. The girl also saw him, and a look of relief came over her face.
Hegner scowled blackly and hesitated, then he dropped Fanny’s wrist and hurried away.
Merriwell was tempted to follow him, but Fanny called to him, and he stopped. As he did so, lifting his hat with a graceful movement that was natural for him, her face, pale a moment before, grew crimson.