“Me either,” agreed Phil. “Let’s work it out ourselves, with Dr. Marshall to help us.”
Sid finally agreed with this view. The night wore on, and Tom, by energetic measures, was soon brought out of danger. In fact he never really was in what could be called “danger,” the only effect of the stuff that had been put in the tonic, Dr. Marshall said, being to make him ill and weak. This, in all likelihood, was the object of the person who had fixed the dose. He hoped that Tom would be incapacitated for a week or more.
For it developed that the original bottle, of what was a standard remedy, had been opened, and a certain chemical oil added, that would neutralize the good effects, and make the stuff positively harmful.
“Say, but it was a scare all right, though,” remarked Sid, as the three sat talking about it, too engrossed to go to bed. And, in their case the usual rule of “lights out,” was not enforced on this occasion. “I sort of think it was ‘up to me,’ for recommending Tom to take the stuff.”
“Nonsense,” exclaimed Phil. “You meant all right. It was that cad Shambler who ought to be pummeled.”
“It’ll be hard to fix it on him,” was Frank’s opinion; and so it proved.
The next morning the three friends arranged with Dr. Marshall and the college authorities to keep the real reason of Tom’s illness secret from the students. It was given out that he was overtired from training. Then they set to work to unravel the mystery.
But it was hard work. In the first place they learned that the girls at Fairview knew nothing about the matter. Then Wallops was interviewed.
He gave a good description of the boy who had brought the bottle, and this personage developed, later, into a young employee of a local express company. The boy was sought out.