“Where’s Hodge?” demanded Frank.
“Here,” said Bart, coming forward, and Merriwell saw that he also looked crestfallen.
“Where are those men?”
“I tried to hold Vance,” answered Hodge, “but some men seemed to think I was trying to murder him, and they parted us, giving him a chance to get away.”
“Gentlemen,” said Merriwell, speaking to the assembled crowd, “I think you see how it is. The scoundrels have taken to their heels, leaving this unfortunate woman here to get out of it as best she can. The way they ran must convince you that they are just what I claimed—blackmailers.”
The woman showed signs of reviving. A gallant man assisted her to rise, and she quickly dropped down on the sofa, seeming weak and faint. As she was rather handsome, the man, like men, began to say there must be some mistake, as it was not possible she had been concerned in an attempt at blackmail.
Frank listened to them with a faint smile on his face.
“They make me sick!” growled Hodge. “If she were old and plain, they wouldn’t take so much interest in her.”
Of a sudden, the woman sprang up, her eyes flashing, her cheeks flushed.
“Let me pass!” she exclaimed, dramatically.