“I’m sorry to say that I’m not,” returned the worried trainer. He sighed, for he, too, had had visions of what his team would do with Merry in the box.
“No, it’s anything but a joke, Crockett. I am not at liberty to say very much, and in fact I’m not aware of the definite reasons myself, but the fact remains that Chip may leave school before long.”
“But why?” queried the astounded captain of the nine. “He’s not sick or anything, is he?”
“No. As I understand it, his father and uncle are going West, and intend to take Chip with them. Mr. Merriwell did not go into details, but it’s easy to imagine that it must be something of importance to necessitate Frank’s leaving school at this juncture. It’s going to be a hard blow to the team, for he was the mainstay.”
Crockett nodded. He was absolutely unselfish, and realized fully that much of the school’s success in sports was due to Frank Merriwell, junior.
“That’ll be awful news to get out!” he murmured. “It’s going to jar things on the campus, all right!”
“Well, don’t let it out for a while,” went on the coach. “I’ve told you about it because I wanted to ask you who you had in mind to fill your position when you leave. I’d like to have the election held right after Monday’s game, if possible.”
“Well,” replied Crockett gloomily, “if you hadn’t told me this, I’d have said that Chip himself was the man. He’d make a better job of it than I would, in fact. But since he’s going to drop out also, I’d say Bob Randall.”
“Randall? Yes, he’s a good man, Ted. But if Chip does leave, isn’t that the very reason why he ought to be elected?”
“Huh! I don’t get you,” said Crockett, his mind in a whirl.