It was a day or two after this, when Tom and Phil were walking along the river after football practice, that, down near the bridge, they saw Gerhart just ahead of them.
“There’s a chance to take a fall out of him,” suggested Tom, whose appetite for vengeance was still unappeased.
“That’s so,” agreed Phil. “Let’s catch up to him and toss him into the river.”
They quickened their steps, but a moment later they saw a young man come from the bushes at one end of the bridge and join Gerhart. The two walked briskly on, and, as Tom and Phil could see, they were engaged in earnest conversation.
“We can’t do anything now,” spoke Tom. “That’s a stranger. He’s not of Randall College. Look at his cap.”
“He’s from some college,” declared Phil. “That cap seems familiar. I wonder who he is.”
“Give it up,” spoke Tom. “We might as well go back now.”
They were about to turn when suddenly the lad with Gerhart swung about and made a violent gesture of dissent. Then Tom and Phil heard him say:
“I’ll have nothing to do with such a dirty trick, and you ought to be ashamed to make the offer!”