Harry Rattleton was there. He pushed into the center of the crowd.
“I went with him,” said Harry. “He took the old woman home and carried her into her house in his arms, for she could not walk. He sent me for a doctor. When I got back, he was doing his best to cheer up the old lady and her dying daughter.”
“Has Mother Muggs a daughter?” some one asked.
“Yes, and it’s plain she was a stunning-looking girl once. She’s sick in bed, and there was not a spark of fire in the house nor a bit of food.”
“Tough lines!”
“You bet! But all that’s fixed now. Merriwell fixed it. He went out and ordered coal and wood and groceries, and had them sent round in a hurry. Then we went to another store, and he bought blankets and quilts to put on the bed to keep the poor dying girl warm. We carried back an armful of stuff. When we got there we found the doctor. Merry told him to care for Mother Muggs and her daughter and forked over a tenner in advance to pay.”
“Well, what’s the matter with Merriwell?” cried somebody, and again the crowd shouted:
“He’s all right!”
“You can bet your life he is!” said Harry proudly. “You should have seen him building a fire in the old stove, heating a can of broth, and then feeding the sick girl himself. Fellows, I’ve known Frank Merriwell a long time, and I always knew he was all right; but I tell you I watched him with amazement down in that wretched hovel. I saw him fixing things round and making everything cheerful. I saw him jollying up the poor girl till she laughed. He was as tender as a woman down there, and everybody here knows that he’s strong as a lion on the football-field. And old Mother Muggs was so astonished that all she could say was, “Land, land, who’d ‘a’ thought it!’ He made that old woman and her dying girl happy to-night, and he told them he’d come again and see that they were comfortable. He’ll do it, too. They kicked him off the eleven to-day, but I’ll bet that to-night he’s happier than any of those who remain.”
Harry spoke earnestly, and his words impressed the listeners. If a single enemy of Frank Merriwell was present, he was silenced.