“Gentlemen,” he said, a knowing smile on his smooth-shaven, bulldog face, “I think I can explain what I mean by calling Merriwell a faker. A faker is a deceiver—he pretends to accomplish things he does not actually accomplish. At college Merriwell won a great deal of glory as a football captain and a baseball player. Investigation will show that the football and baseball teams of those years were the strongest ever turned out at Yale. He obtained the reputation, while the men behind him did the work. It has been so ever since.”
“Apparently,” said Phipps, “you do not give Merriwell any credit for developing such strong teams.”
“I place the credit where it belongs, with the coaches. Merriwell developed nothing. He happened to be fortunate in having such good teams to back him up, and he has lived on the reputation made at Yale.”
“His career since leaving Yale——” began Grafter.
“What has he done? Personally, I mean. He has traveled round more or less, with an athletic team made up from the best Yale men of his day and a few clever outsiders. He still works the old game of living on the glory that should belong to others. But he is careful when he plays baseball teams to choose such teams as he can defeat in most instances. For instance——”
“The Chicago Nationals,” laughed Grafter. “Didn’t he win two games off them in California?”
“Fake!” laughed Manton, in return. “He has plenty of money, and he can afford to buy the rubber game, especially when it costs a big team nothing to lose it. That’s another of his tricks. He goes round the country spending money freely. Who couldn’t win at almost anything if he had plenty of money!”
Grafter shook his head.
“I have found out,” he said, “that legitimate amateur sports are generally on the level. Amateurs, as a rule, cannot be bought.”