"We were not rivals, if you please. He was substituted to fill my place after I was injured. But for this ankle, he would not have been on the team."
"But that he refused to play football this season, you would not have been on the team," put in Bandy Robinson.
"Oh, I see all you fellows are standing up for him and are down on me!" fiercely cried Marline. "I don't care if you are. I think Frank Merriwell is——"
"Is what, sir?"
It was Merriwell himself, who had approached the group without being noticed by any of them. He now stepped forward promptly and faced Marline.
Rob turned pale, and his eyes gleamed. For some moments he did not speak, but he did not quail in the least before Merriwell's steady gaze.
At last, gaining control of his voice, he sneered:
"So you were listening. Well, there is an old saying that eavesdroppers seldom hear good of themselves."
"So you call me an eavesdropper?"
"You heard what was not meant for your ears."