“Well, I, for one, shall not feel very good toward Hodge if he does come back,” admitted Dunton. “What are we going to do, Mr. Merriwell? The town is billed for the play, the day has arrived for the performance, and there is a big advance sale.”
“We’ll have to lay off to-night,” answered Frank, as if that settled it without further talk. “I will attend to that. Don’t let it worry you.”
“How can you get a man to fill Hodge’s place?” asked Garland.
“That I do not know yet.”
“I wonder what he was after in this room,” came from Vance, in a last desperate effort to force Frank to speak out. “He sneaked out of here as if he had committed a crime. You haven’t lost anything, have you, Mr. Merriwell? He didn’t take anything from you, did he?”
“I haven’t looked around yet,” was the cool answer. “As for coming into this room, he had a right to do that at any time. It was a privilege I gave him, and it was always so understood by hotel clerks wherever we stopped. I know you do not like Hodge, but take my advice, don’t try to make him appear worse than he is. I don’t like it, and I won’t have it!”
Frank walked to the door and opened it.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “I beg you to excuse me. I have business to look after, and time is valuable now.”
They took the hint and filed out. The door closed after them. Vance wheeled about and looked toward the door, his lips curling in scorn.
“Merriwell is a fool!” he declared.