“But you must stay out unless I do give the signal.”
“Well, I’ll stay out awhile, if I don’t hear a row going on in that place. If I hear that, I shall get inside to see how you are faring.”
This was all right, and so Frank walked up to the door, pushed it open quietly, and entered. He found a lot of tough-looking men drinking in front of a bar, behind which were two dispensers of drinks. The place smelled of liquor. The floor was covered with sawdust, well besprinkled with tobacco juice. Men were smoking vile-smelling pipes and scarcely less vile-smelling cigars. It was a Saturday-night crowd, and the most of them seemed bent on getting intoxicated. Among them were a number of poor laboring men, who were squandering their hard-earned money in that miserable place.
Frank walked in as if it were not the first time he had entered the place, sauntered up to one end of the bar, and stood there quietly.
“What’ll yer have?” asked one of the barkeepers.
“Beer,” answered Frank, feeling that it would not do to call for a soft drink in that place.
A glass of beer that was half foam was slopped out and placed before him. He threw down the right pay for it, and the barkeeper turned his attention to others.
Merry had no intention of drinking that beer. At his feet was a wooden box, two-thirds full of sawdust, which served as a cuspidor when any one cared to use it for that purpose. Into this Merry quietly and unobservedly turned part of the glass of beer. With the half-emptied glass on the bar before him, he proceeded to look around, wiping his mouth. He quickly discovered that neither Hooker nor his companion was standing before the bar. Further inspection disclosed a back room, the door to which stood open. In the back room were three tables, at which men were sitting, drinking and smoking. Hooker and the man he had picked up on the street were sitting at one of the tables. Without trouble, Merriwell changed his position slightly, so that he was able to watch Hooker, while he remained almost entirely concealed by several men who were standing near.
Jim Hooker was talking earnestly to the unfortunate man, who sat on the opposite side of the table. He was not drinking, and Merry observed that no drink sat before him. The other man seemed impatient, and one of the waiters brought him something in a glass. Hooker took the glass and smelled of it, while the waiter shrugged his shoulders and held out his hand. Then Hooker felt in his pocket, brought out a dime, and paid for the drink, which he shoved across to the other man. From the appearance of the drink, Merry quickly decided that it was some kind of a mixture intended to aid in straightening the unfortunate inebriate up. The man took it up, tasted it, and made a face expressive of disgust. Then Hooker urged him to drink it down quickly.
Of course, this was interesting to Frank. What did Hooker mean to do with the man after sobering him off? That was a question that troubled him some. With some trouble, the man forced himself to drink the contents of the glass. Just as this was done, Frank saw the barkeeper catch from off the bar the glass he had half emptied and slop the remaining contents into a washtank beneath the bar.