“Yes, it must be,” he thought, “for there goes Amos Belton, of the juniors.”
A dark-complexioned man, who looked young and springy as he mounted the steps, had drawn Bert’s attention.
“Just wait a minute till I know that I’m right,” Bert begged of the driver, for he had learned caution. “I’ll be down in a minute, whether it’s right or wrong!”
Then he made a dash for the house that he hoped was Mrs. Marcellene Whitlock’s.
The young man whom he took to be Amos Belton disappeared in the building; and Bert, following closely after him, gave the bell a tug.
It was evidently out of repair, for no ring could be heard. Time was too precious to wait long in uncertainty, and when no one appeared in answer to his rap, he pushed open the door and looked in.
He saw a light in a room at the farther end of a long hall; and, thinking to gain information, if nothing else, Bert put down his mandolin and advanced toward the illumination. As he walked along the carpeted hall, his feet making little noise, he reached a point which enabled him to see a large part of the interior of the room.
He stopped in bewildered surprise. In the room was one whom at first sight he took to be Inza Burrage. In a bewildering way there came to him a memory of some talk he had heard that Amos Belton, the junior, was madly in love with Miss Burrage. Then it occurred to him that this must be Mrs. Whitlock’s, and that Inza was one of the guests. Perhaps Merriwell was there?
He was about to advance and speak, when the person whom he took to be Inza turned round from the mirror, and he had a good look at the face. It was surprisingly like Inza’s, so much so that at first he was sure it was Inza; but he saw a moment later that, while the face looked so much like that of Miss Burrage, there was a distinct difference. It was as if some girl had tried to “make up” to look like Inza.
Then his bewilderment increased, for it came to him that the face on which he was looking was that of the young man who had inquired of him and Ready in the suburbs that afternoon when the hockey-match was to be held.