Frank Merriwell at Yale | Page 7

"I know this was a put-up job, and Bruce Browning was in it.
He got us to come here. Frank Merriwell knew something about it, or
he'd never been so ready to come. And I know you, too, Tad Horner."
The little fellow fell back a step, and then, with a sudden angry impulse,

he tore off his mask, showing a flushed, chubby, boyish face, from
which a pair of great blue eyes flashed at Diamond.
"Well, I am Tad Horner!" he cried, "and I'm not ashamed of it! If you
want to throw me down, go ahead. It will be a low, dirty trick, and will
show the kind of big stuff you are!"
The masked lads were surprised, for Tad had never exhibited such
spirit before. He had always seemed like a mild, shy, mother-boy sort
of chap. He had been hazed and had cried; but he wouldn't beg and he
never squealed. After that Browning had taken him under his wing, had
fought his battles, and had stood by him through the freshman year.
Anybody who was looking for trouble could find it by imposing on
Horner; and Browning, for all of his laziness, could fight like a tiger
when he was aroused.
Some of the students clapped their hands in approbation of Tad's plain
words, and there was a general stir. One fellow proposed that
everybody unmask, so that all would be on a level with Horner, but the
little fellow quickly cried:
"Don't do it! You'd all be spotted, and the faculty would know who to
investigate if anything should happen to Diamond. If I'm fired, I want
you fellows to settle with him for me."
"We'll do it--we'll do it, Tad!" cried more than twenty voices.
Diamond showed his white, even teeth and laughed shortly.
"Perhaps you think that will scare me," he sneered. "If so, you will find
I am not bluffed so easily."
"We are not trying to scare you," declared another of the masked
students, "but you'll find we are in earnest if you blow."
"Well, you will find I am in earnest, and I do not care for you all."
The boys began to despair, for they saw that Diamond was determined

and obstinate, and it would be no easy thing to induce him to abandon
his intention of reporting the hazing. If he did so, Browning and Horner
would find themselves in deep trouble, and others might become
involved during the investigation. It was not probable that the
consequences would be serious for Merriwell, who would be able to
prove his innocence in the matter.
What could be done?
The boys fell to discussing the matter in little groups, and not a few
expressed regret that Tad Horner had unmasked, as an alibi could have
been arranged for him if he had not done so. Now he would be too
proud to permit them to try anything of the sort, and he would tell the
truth about his connection with the affair if the truth were demanded of
him.
"We're in a bad box," said one fellow in one of the little groups.
"Diamond is mad enough to do as he threatens."
"Sure," nodded another. "And that breaks up this joint. No more little
lunches here--no more games of penny ante."
"It's a howling shame!" exploded a third. "It makes me feel grouchy."
"I move we strangle Diamond," suggested the first speaker.
"It seems that that is the only way to keep his tongue still," dolefully
groaned a tall chap. "This is a big horse on us."
"That's what," sighed a boy with a face like a girl's. "The whole
business puts me in a blue funk."
Then they stood and stared silently at each other through the eyeholes
in their masks, and not one of them was able to propose anything
practicable.
The rest of the assembled sophomores seemed in quite as bad a plight,
and some of them were inclined to indulge in profanity, which,

although it relieved their feelings for the moment, did not suggest any
way out of the scrape.
At this point Merriwell spoke up, addressing Diamond.
"Look here, old man," he said in a friendly way, "you've only taken the
same dose they gave me. It's nothing when you get used to it."
Diamond gave him a contemptuous look, but did not speak.
"Now, I don't propose to make a fuss about this little joke," Frank went
on. "What's the use? I'm not half killed."
"Perhaps you think you can hoodwink me!" cried Diamond. "Well, you
cannot! You were in the game all the time. That's why you were so
ready to meet me in a duel--that's why you came here."
"I assure you on my word of honor that you are wrong."
"Your word of