“It’s all right!” exclaimed Sid, and there was a joyous look on his face. “I can, and I’m going, to explain everything, now. You needn’t hesitate about coming with me, Miss Harrison. See this,” and he held out a duplicate of the newspaper clipping that had been fraught with such results. “I don’t wonder you fellows thought I was going the pace,” continued Sid, “nor do I blame you, Miss Harrison, for not believing in me. This is the first chance I’ve had to explain. I was in that gambling raid told of here.”
“You were?” and the girl recoiled a pace.
“Yes,” resumed Sid, with a little smile, “I went there to rescue my cousin. His name is Guy Norton, and he is the same flashily-dressed young man you saw me with at the picnic. Guy’s father died a short time ago, leaving him a fortune, which he proceeded to get rid of as quickly as possible. He took to gambling, and fast company, though his widowed mother never knew it. She supposed him attending to business in Dartwell, but, instead, Guy was dissipating. His sister, Clara, knew of it, however, and wrote to me to try to save her brother. She came to Dartwell to help look after him, and boarded with him. I had considerable control over Guy, for we used to be little chaps together, and I once saved him from drowning, so he would generally do as I said. So I promised his sister I would save him, and gave my word not to tell anything about it, as she wanted to keep all knowledge from her mother, who had a weak heart, and who, she knew, would die if she ever knew her son was a gambler.
“My first service was to take Guy out of a gambling hall, his sister having written me a hasty note to the effect that he had gone there with a large sum of money.”
“That piece of paper, with the word ‘trouble’ on it must have been from her note,” remarked Phil. “We picked it up in the room, after you went out so quickly that rainy night, Sid.”
“Yes,” assented the victorious second baseman, “Guy was in trouble, sure enough. I went to Dartwell, and managed to get my cousin to leave the place, just before the raid. As we went out, however, the police came in, and Guy and I were caught. He fought the officers, and called out my name, in asking me to help rescue him. Instead I advised him to submit. He was taken away, but I easily proved that I had nothing to do with the gambling, and I was allowed to go. I went to Guy’s boarding place, and, from his sister, got money enough to pay his fine, together with some I had. In some way my name got in the papers. Guy might have recklessly given it instead of his own, thinking to keep the knowledge from his mother.
“My cousin was released the next morning, but he made me promise never to tell of his scrape. That was what sealed my lips. He promised to reform, if I kept silent, and I did, though it was hard—terribly hard,” and Sid looked at Miss Harrison, in whose blue eyes there were traces of tears.
“As I knew Guy’s mother had a weak heart, and that the least shock might be fatal, I dared not even ask her advice. Clara and I decided to fight it out alone. She arranged to send me word by a messenger, whenever her brother went off with his gay companions, and I promised to go and bring him away, no matter what the hour.
“I did go, many times, to your wonderment, Tom and Phil, and once I had to cancel a promise I made to take Miss Harrison to an affair. But I could not break my word. On one occasion Guy, who was not himself, recklessly came to the college seeking me. He had a bottle of liquor with him, and I took it away from him, hurrying him back to Dartwell. But Mr. Zane caught me, and, as I was on my honor to Guy and his sister to keep silent, I could not explain. I took my punishment, being barred from the team, and kept still, though it was hard—very hard.”
“You were a hero!” exclaimed Mabel Harrison, her blue eyes bright with admiration.