Fred's ear. "Merriwell is here! Have you been horsing us?"
Then, for all that his parents and his sisters were present, Fred Flemming ground out a bitter cry. His voice shook and he choked, as he answered:
"You know as well as I what it means! Oh, what luck!"
He was utterly unmanned, and his mother, observing his pallor, asked him if he had been suddenly taken ill. He answered her with a snarl, like a mad dog.
The five runners came down to the line. Just as they did so, Duncan Yates burst into the Flemming box.
"What sort of a jolly business is this, Flemming?" he demanded, his face pale with anger.
And then, seeing there were ladies present, he removed his cap and mumbled an apology.
Fred did not introduce Yates; he was too much broken up to think of such a thing.
"That's what I'd like to know," he said, helplessly. "You know we were told Merriwell was not on hand to run."
"But he showed up in time to dress, and I was coolly