"Yes it can, Hally; I'm out of it. I have decided to stick to my studies and let football alone."
Ben groped for a chair, upon which he weakly dropped.
"Is this a dream?" he muttered; "or did my ears deceive me? It can't be that I heard aright!"
"There is no joking about this," said Frank, getting up and standing before his visitor. "I have decided at last, and my mind is made up."
Ben was silent, but he stared and stared and stared at Frank. He seemed trying to comprehend it.
"I wouldn't have believed it," he muttered—"I won't believe it now! It isn't Frank Merriwell! He wouldn't do a thing like that. He has a mind of his own, and he does not change his mind with every change of the wind."
Frank flushed painfully, but said:
"Only fools never change their minds, Hally. Men of reason and good sense are forced to change their minds occasionally."
As soon as he seemed able to comprehend it fully, Ben got up and approached Merriwell.
"Look here, Merry," he said, entreatingly, "don't be a fool! I'm going to talk plain with you! By Jove! Somebody should talk plain to you! I don't care if you kick me out of your room! If you whiffle around again you'll be the butt of ridicule for everybody. You'll never again have any standing in Yale. Man, you are throwing away your reputation! Can't you see it?"