There rose a sudden shout. Men sprang forward to assist some one from the wreck. Then, with his clothes torn, his hands bleeding, but with triumph written on his determined face, Frank Merriwell, of Yale, reappeared.
In his arms he bore Bernard Burrage!
CHAPTER XXIV
“A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY.”
There were plenty of old friends in Fardale who were ready and willing to take Bernard Burrage in and do all in their power for him, but Alvin Brander was on hand with a comfortable sleigh to bear Inza’s father from the station when the next train came in over the line from the place of the wreck.
Inza accompanied her father, of course. Frank Merriwell, Roy Swift, and Walter Burrage, the latter with his left arm in a sling, were also on the train, but they decided to stop at the hotel.
Of course, they were heroes to the villagers, who had thousands of questions to ask about the wreck. Not a few of the injured had belonged in Fardale, or were known there, and one among the four killed outright had once lived in the little village. It was a mighty sensation for a town of that size.
Frank was remembered and recognized by many. Some recognized Swift. But no one seemed to know Walter Burrage, who registered at the hotel under a fictitious name.
Mr. Burrage, strange to say, had received very few bodily injuries in the catastrophe; but mentally he had been given a terrible shock, and his condition was regarded as critical. The following morning, however, the inquiring and solicitous villagers learned that he seemed somewhat better.
Walter Burrage tried to avoid Swift, but this he found rather difficult, for the young soldier refused to be dodged. And so, biding his time, Swift caught Walter alone in his room after the latter had visited his father and Inza that morning. The young man in uniform walked right into the room, with an air of easy assurance that was a trifle annoying.