“Who will he play in left?”
That was an open question. He practiced with both Gamp and Walling in that position. Walling showed up poorly, while Gamp, tall, “gangling” and awkward, made some remarkable catches. Walling was placed on the bench, and Gamp was installed in left.
Old players looked on aghast. Surely Merriwell was crazy. Gamp was not a practical man. Browning might go to sleep on first. What sort of a team was Frank getting together?
Merry did not pay any heed to what was being said. He took his team out for practice every day. He worked them hard. He drilled them on team work. He had them so everyone understood the code of signals which he introduced.
Pooler went out day after day to see them practice. He was deeply interested, and not a few fellows believed his interest came from patriotic motives.
He was sizing up the nine, and, as the day for the game with Harvard approached, he became more and more nervous.
“I can’t lose this time!” he thought. “It will ruin me! Merriwell is the moving spirit of the whole team. With him out of the way, Harvard would have a walk-over.”
With him out of the way!
That thought kept running in Pink’s head. How could Merriwell be disposed of so he could take no part in the game against Harvard?
Pooler fell to scheming. He formed plan after plan, but discarded them all. He thought of trying to drug Frank on the field, but that had been tried too many times. It was dangerous, and it might not prove successful.