“And I gave you a chance to square the whole business.”
“By throwing the race. I’m a square chap, Snodgrass, and it was gall and wormwood for me to agree to your terms: but you had me foul, and what could I do but agree?”
“Oh, nothing, of course!”
“Of course not! Why, my old chump of a grandmother would yank me out of Yale in a hurry if she found I had run into debt over two hundred. It’s the first time in my life I ever did anything dishonest, and the thought of it has driven me to drink.”
Arnold tried to squeeze out a tear, but it was plain to his companion that he was making a weak bluff.
“Well, if you stick to your agreement there will be no need to worry; but you must look out to keep your place on the crew. If you are dropped, the whole scheme goes to smash. That’s why I say be careful about your smoking and drinking. Merriwell’s keen eyes will soon discover it if you get a little out of condition and keep so.”
“Oh, blow Merriwell! I’d like to thump him. I wish we might catch him alone, Snodgrass, and give him a good drubbing. Why can’t we do it? We might lay for him some night and take him in a dark place.”
“If he recognized us, we’d be spotted as his enemies, and you know it isn’t healthy to be the enemy of Merriwell. The Chickering set are his enemies, and they are ostracized.”
“They would be anyhow.”
“Oh, I don’t know. They have rich parents; and money counts.”