Frank stopped, and Hodge quickly picked him up.
“When you attempted to introduce a crook to them. Do you wonder? You cannot blame them.”
Merry rose and walked slowly to the mantel, against which he leaned.
“I suppose not,” he finally said. “They were right and I was wrong. I shall confess my mistake to them. A little while ago I felt that the time would come when I should be able to make them all acknowledge that they were wrong.”
“Is that what’s hit you so hard? Come out of it! You need not say a word about it to any of them, and you may be sure not one of your real friends will ever mention it to you.”
“That is not my way. If I make a mistake, I am ready to acknowledge it no matter how hard it may be for me. The fellow who cannot bring himself to acknowledge a mistake makes himself miserable and gets the reputation of being bull-headed. It is not because I must confess I was wrong that I am feeling bad. It is because an ideal is shattered.”
“You are sorry for Hooker, Merriwell, that’s why you feel so bad.”
Frank was silent.
“Think it over a little,” advised Hodge quickly. “Should you be sorry for a fellow who could do what he has done? You picked him up an outcast, and you attempted to bring him into your set, the best set in college. When your friends turned their backs on him, you stood by him. How did he reward you? He stole your watch!”
Frank nodded slowly.