"I'm sorry for you, Merriwell," said Havener, who had found time to stop and listen to Frank's explanation. "You were hitting them hard. What are you going to do now?"
"Don't know," answered Frank, honestly. "Haven't made any plans."
"I suppose you're busted, like the rest of us?"
"Not quite."
"No?"
"I made a big haul the first night I played to the audience that had assembled to hear Zolverein, and I have done fairly well since then. I'm pretty near five hundred dollars ahead."
"Five hundred dollars!" cried several voices.
"Five hundred dollars!" cried Collie Cates, the comedian, striking a tragic pose. "Ye gods and little apples! A marvelous fortune! Hail, Monte Christo! The world is yours!"
"Five hundred dollars!" said Havener. "Then I suppose you are going to get out of this forsaken country and make for the East in a hurry?"
"Haven't formed my plans yet, but I'm thinking of backing a traveling company on the road."