“He hasn’t.”
“Then how comes it that he is so thundering strong?”
“There is the mystery.”
“And it’s deep and dark,” said Ready. “If he’d been any stronger he might have wiped us all off the face of the earth. I’ve been up against Merriwell before now, and it seems to me that this man was fully the match for Merriwell. Somehow, he had the same careless way of slamming a fellow round.”
“If we’d just had Merriwell in disguise to run against him,” said Carker. “Oh, but the fur would have filled the air!”
“Merriwell in disguise!” exclaimed Ready, suddenly starting and giving his own head a punch. “Why didn’t I think of that before! Oh, lud!”
“It would have been a great trick,” said Carker; “but it’s too late to think about it now.”
“Merriwell in disguise!” repeated Ready, as if in a trance.
“Come out of it!” growled Bingham.
“Oh, lud! Oh, lud!” murmured Jack, again smiting himself back of the ear with his clenched fist. “What chumps we have been! If we’d just ripped off his wig, he would have stood exposed! And I lost the chance to do the trick! I must find a good soft place to lie down and expire!”