“I do then!” said Zorn. “I know when I’m beaten. He—he thrashed me—I can’t get away from that.”
“Well, what you got was a good while coming,” said the Shark testily. “Overdue account, I’d call it.”
“I didn’t think Parker had it in him,” Zorn went on. “I’d been waiting for this chance at him ever since he refused to trade. And this—this has smashed everything. I’m whipped. You three know it to-day. The club will know it to-night, and the whole school and the whole town will hear of it to-morrow.”
“You don’t expect us to keep it a secret, do you?” queried the Shark.
Zorn’s answer had all the surprise of the unexpected. “I don’t want it kept secret; I want it told—just as it is. I mean it! Look here! You’ve got your ideas; I’ve got mine. Maybe they don’t agree all around, but if a fellow can whip me, I won’t try to rob him of the credit. I’m no squealer. I won’t try to take away Parker’s credit.”
“As if that wasn’t just what you’ve been trying to do for a month!” the Shark objected.
“I had a reason.” There was a curious patience in Zorn’s tone. “I was playing my game. Things happened my way—so I could make use of them. I did use ’em.”
Sam’s bewilderment at the marked change in his antagonist was beginning to pass. It could not be said that he yet understood clearly the course Zorn was taking; but he was getting glimmerings of the truth. Defeat in fair fight spelled disaster for Zorn’s plans for school dominance. Zorn recognized this. What was more, he was accepting his reverse with a fair-mindedness, so to speak, for which Sam was hardly prepared. It must be, he reflected, that Zorn had his code, which might not be the code of the Safety First Club, but which he would uphold even at cost to himself; he might not hesitate to do unscrupulous things to achieve a definite result, but if he failed, he would accept responsibility for his methods.
A cloud of smoke drove across the clearing. Sam was reminded of the danger which still threatened them.
“Come on, you fellows!” he said, and moved toward the lake shore.