Rowe, who was in charge of the party of seniors, immediately picked Frank up and carried him toward the sidewalk.
"Get a move on, boys!" he exclaimed, under his breath. "We must get Merriwell out of sight as quick as possible."
"Shan't I go for a doctor, Dick?" asked one of them.
"Yes," answered Rowe, hurriedly; "bring him to my room, but keep mum."
One of the seniors sped away down the street, another took hold of Frank with Rowe to help carry him, while the last member of the party fell in behind his companions, determined if they were followed to beat off pursuers.
This action on the part of the seniors might seem rather peculiar to those who are not wholly familiar with secret society matters.
They did not stop to discuss it, for each one of them knew in a flash just what must be done.
Secret societies at Yale are very powerful organizations. In past years there were some efforts to disband them and prevent the students from organizing them.
All these efforts failed; the more the faculty tried to suppress the Greek letter orders, the more firmly the students clung to them, until at last the faculty had to let the societies alone.
The students knew, however, that there were plenty of men in the government of the college who would be glad of any excuse to suppress the societies and no better excuse could be found than the fact that a student had been injured in the course of an initiation.