“All right, sir, all right,” ground out the trustee. “Then I resign, at once! How will you manage to get along without my money, Morrell? Answer me that!”
“I beg your pardon, sir,” put in Don. “But my father has agreed to become a trustee in your place if you should resign.”
Gates was taken aback. A murmur arose from the other trustees and more than one satisfied look was exchanged. The chief trustee shook with rage.
“Oh, very well, gentlemen, very well! If that is the way you feel about it, I see that there is nothing left for me to do but to resign. This is a pretty cheap game to play, Morrell.”
“It isn’t a game at all!” retorted the colonel, with spirit. “How long do you suppose these young men were going to submit to the rule of one man on a question like this? Don’t you see that for years you have made these young men the laughing stock of the neighboring preparatory schools, and that we have been questioned on all sides as to our sportsmanship? It was only a matter of time, Mr. Gates, and I was simply lucky enough to have Mercer’s father offer to take your place if you resigned.”
“Had it all planned out, eh?” snarled Gates. “Mercer’s father prepared to step in as soon as I stepped out!”
“Yes, but you can’t blame anyone if you want to step out,” returned the colonel. “If you will resign, someone must take your place. We will receive your resignation at any time, Mr. Gates.”
“You’ll get it soon,” the trustee promised. “Let me tell you, nothing good will come of all this. The idea of you young cadets wanting to play Dimsdale this year! Why, everybody knows that they will run away with you!”
The cadets flushed and Berry replied. “We will try hard to make them run after us, and not away with us, sir.”
“They’ll make a laughing stock of you!” shouted the irate trustee.