"Let's kick him to death!" exclaimed one, excitedly.
The students were so angry that they might have put this suggestion into execution if Frank had not called a halt.
"Find a cord," he said, "and bind this fellow hand and foot; then we'll notify the committee of arrangements and go on with the tug of war."
A cord was quickly found, and the man was tied so thoroughly that there was no possibility that he could escape. Then, while Frank and the others were getting ready for the tug, Hill looked up the committee of arrangements and explained the situation.
It may be said in passing that the matter aroused a great deal of indignation on all sides, and that an investigation was made, which resulted in showing that the man Frank had captured was a common gambler, and that there were several others who had put up a great deal of money on Princeton, and then taken every means they possibly could to bring about Princeton's victory.
He could do this only by disabling Princeton's adversaries. It was found that attempts had been made to injure both Harvard and Cornell men as well as those from Yale.
Two or three of the gambler's confederates were found in the hall and put under arrest, and the next morning they were taken to police court on a charge of malicious mischief, for which they were severely punished.
As it was perfectly certain that no Princeton man had any hand in the matter, or any knowledge of it other than had been given to the managers by the Yale team, nothing was said about it at the time, for everybody was anxious that the tug of war between Yale and Princeton should be pulled on its merits.
The master of ceremonies announced that an accident had happened to Yale's anchor, and that Merriwell would take his place, with Rattleton as substitute on the rope.
There was a good deal of dismay at this in the Yale ranks, for although everybody had confidence in Frank, all knew that a change in the make-up of a team at the last moment is likely to be disastrous.