Then came the arrest of Frank on his appearance in Rockland, but Flynn had discovered the presence of Benjamin in the Limerock City, and then he had not stopped to prosecute, but had quickly and discreetly disappeared.
“The boys will catch him,” said Dustan, with confidence. “You can put him behind the bars, Mr. Merriwell, and you must do it.”
But, to the surprise of all, the pursuers returned after a time, coming back in a body, and announced that the fellow had given them the slip. He had ridden like the wind, turning corner after corner, and they had followed as hotly as they could. At last they came up with a rider they believed their man, but found it was another person. In some way he had dodged them after turning a corner.
Dustan looked angry.
“That was beastly luck!” he exclaimed. “But we’ll catch the fellow, Mr. Merriwell, I promise you that. He assaulted you here in our rooms, and we shall feel it our duty to see that he is arrested. Come with me, and I will take you where you can swear out a warrant against him.”
“I do not fancy that will do any good,” said Frank. “He thinks he stabbed me, and he will not stop till he has left Belfast far behind. You’ll not see him around here again.”
“You are right,” nodded Dustan; “but we can put an officer on the track of him. We’ll run him down.”
“It isn’t worth while, for it will cause me a large amount of trouble. I shall have to appear against him and testify, and I do not wish to take the time for that. He will not trouble me again, so I will let him go.”
“It’s your affair,” said Dustan, “so you may do as you like, but no person can try to stab me and get off so easy.”
By this time it was known on the street that an encounter had taken place between two guests of the wheelmen, and the report that one of them had tried to stab the other was enough to provide a fertile topic for conversation.