From the first Barney had not liked Mark Merrill, and he made no effort to disguise it.
A tall, heavily formed fellow, he possessed great brute strength, and was brave from this very reason, feeling his power over weaker mortals, and inclined to be a bully from nature.
One afternoon the cadets assembled in considerable force in the gymnasium, and many were giving exhibitions of their prowess as athletes, and no mean exhibition it was, either, for the training that they received made iron physiques of the youths.
For some reason an unpleasant feeling rested upon many, which soon became general when it was known that Scott Clemmons had lost a valuable coin that morning.
It was a rare coin, what is known as a fifty-dollar gold piece, octagonal in shape, and always quoted at a large premium on account of the scarcity of such issues of money.
All who had seen Scott Clemmons with it knew that he called it his “luck coin,” and that he prized it most highly.
He had changed his clothes that morning, leaving the coin in the pants he had taken off, and, going for it an hour after, he found it gone.
Barney Breslin had expressed himself boldly about one whom he believed had taken the coin, as he had said that he met a cadet coming out of the room of Scott Clemmons and himself, and unless the gold piece was returned that night, he would make his accusation public.
He would not give a hint as to whom he suspected, but said:
“Wait until night, and then I shall accuse the one I deem the thief,” and he turned away to perform an act which he had won quite a reputation for, which was to walk around the pedestrian track of the gymnasium on his hands.