"Good morning, Mr. Hatch," said Merry.
The face of Hatch cleared a little, and he shook hands with Frank.
"Glad to see you, Merriwell. Did you just drive up? Should have been away from here thirty minutes ago, but something happened to this old machine, and Casimer is having a dickens of a time fixing it. I've been to see Scott."
"How is he?"
"A sick man—a mighty sick man."
"What is the matter?"
"That's the queer thing about it. Doctor hasn't told. Don't believe he knows."
"It is rather queer."
"First the doctor fancied it might be something like paralysis or apoplexy; but it's not. You know Scott was taken while dining at the Waldorf with a man who claims to be interested in the Central Sonora project and expresses a desire to take on one thousand shares of the stock."
"I didn't know about that."