“I am coming, sir, as fast as the law permits.”
The moment he struck the ground they closed about him, holding fast to his arms and collar, and he was rushed into a dark doorway so quickly that he did not have time to get his bearings.
“Why this unseemly haste?” he inquired.
“Shut up!” growled Bruce, once more.
“Indeed, sir, you are imperious, and you awe me exceedingly much,” chirped the queer freshman.
They forced him up a flight of stairs and along an alley. At a door they were halted. A hollow, solemn voice demanded:
“Who is it that thus riotously invades this quiet retreat? Speak, I command you!”
“Oh, Great Unknown,” said the voice of Frank Merriwell, “it is We, Us & Co., formerly devoted and servile attendants of His Extreme Muchness.”
“Seek you admission to the scarlet chamber?” inquired the strange voice.
“We do.”