dick and ray garrett were waiting in uriah blackington’s office when hammerswell and jared whitcomb entered. the maplewood manager carried himself with an air of self-satisfaction and importance.
“well, gentlemen,” he said, “it seems that the trolley league is ready to start afresh on a level footing. no team has an advantage now, and that’s a good thing for the league. i have the boys to make you hustle, and maplewood proposes to walk off with the pennant.”
“what’s this business about changing the schedule?” asked garrett. “fairhaven is satisfied with the schedule as it stands.”
“maplewood and seaslope are not,” retorted hammerswell. “i also understand that rockford would like to make one or two changes. is that right, mr. blackington?”
“if these changes can be made without stirring up hard feelings i favor it,” nodded uriah blackington. “i don’t want to kick up strife. there’s been enough of that.”
“you see, garrett,” said hammerswell, “three of us wish to make some changes. if you object, you will stand alone.”
“what are the changes you wish to make?” inquired ray.
“i have the thing all jotted down here,” said hammerswell, producing a sheet of paper. “mr. whitcomb and myself have agreed on it. just look it over, mr. blackington.”
uriah blackington glanced over the altered schedule and nodded.
“that’s satisfactory to me,” he said. “you have given us two friday games in place of a game thursday and a game wednesday. friday is the best day for rockford.”
garrett waited quietly until the others had examined the newly outlined schedule. he then took it and inspected it with dick.
“what do you think about the changes?” he asked, in a low tone.
“see here,” said dick, pointing at the schedule, “hammerswell has shifted the game to-morrow so that it is to be in maplewood instead of fairhaven. do you see his object?”
“i don’t know.”
“it’s plain enough. his team is winning now. with all the teams tied, he fancies he can gain an advantage by playing the next game at home. two teams must lose to-morrow. that will place them both tied for last position. the two teams that win will be tied for first position. hammerswell is looking for first position. if he secures an advantage by winning to-morrow, he’ll have a fairly good hold on the place.”
“then you object to that change, do you?”
“wait a minute,” said dick. “let me run this thing over. you see he has it fixed so our final game of the season is to be played in maplewood. i object to that. if he has this game in maplewood to-morrow, fairhaven must have the last two games at home. stand firm on that, ray. if they agree to it we can afford to accept these other changes.”
“that’s right,” nodded garrett, and immediately he announced to the meeting fairhaven’s position in the matter.
hammerswell raised an objection, and was feebly backed by whitcomb. the maplewood man turned in appeal to uriah blackington.
“you see there are two of us against one, mr. blackington. that ought to decide the matter.”
“but it doesn’t,” declared the rockford manager grimly.
“why not?”
“because we’ve agreed on a schedule, and unless all managers are satisfied with any changes made there can be no changes. if you want this game to-morrow at maplewood, mr. hammerswell, you will have to accept fairhaven’s terms and give them the last two games on the island.”
in vain hammerswell argued and pleaded. with difficulty he repressed his annoyance and anger. for once he found it impossible to carry things his own way, and in the end he was compelled to acquiesce to garrett’s terms. when this final agreement was made, the altered schedule was accepted by vote in the regular manner.
“we got the best of that, garrett,” smiled dick, as they left blackington’s office together. “the two last games on the island should be rousers for us. if we are in position to fight for first place, we will have big crowds and make a fat thing out of it.”
“that’s right, dick,” nodded ray. “you were long-headed in demanding that change. i am sorry we have to return to fairhaven to-night. that trip across always shakes the team up some and puts it out of condition. we’ll have to return as early as possible to-morrow in order to rest up on the mainland before the game.”
“why not remain here?” suggested dick. “hammerswell counts on our making the trip to-morrow, and without doubt he expects his players to be in first-class condition, while we should be somewhat shaken up. let’s fool him.”
“a good suggestion!” cried garrett. “if they celebrate on the island to-night they will have to do so without us. we’ll stay right here.”
thus it came about that the lady may returned to fairhaven without the ball team.
that night dick merriwell and bart hodge sat up until a late hour talking. of course, dick was anxious to hear all about his brother, and therefore he plied hodge with questions.
“why didn’t frank come himself?” he asked for the third time.
“he wanted to,” said hodge, “but he felt that he couldn’t spare the time just now. his mining interests have kept him busy during the last few weeks.”
“where did you leave him—in denver?”
“no; in chicago.”
“chicago?” exclaimed dick. “why? how was that? i didn’t suppose——”
“it was business that took us both to chicago. we have been negotiating with a syndicate that wants to buy the phantom mine in the mazatzals. they sent an expert to examine the property, and we know he made a favorable report, for they offered us a price on it. we wired our terms, and they urged us to come on to chicago. when we arrived there, however, they attempted to cut down on us, and the whole deal hung up. had we put it through, it was our intention to come on here together in time to witness the final games in this league. i have left everything in frank’s hands. he wished me to come on, and we agreed on our rock-bottom price before i pulled out of chicago. if the syndicate comes to terms, all right; if they don’t accept our figures, the deal is off.”
“are you anxious to sell your interest in the mine?” asked dick.
“not exactly anxious,” answered hodge; “but i have a wish to go into business in the east, and the money i should receive would be enough to set me up. frank has his other mines to look after, and he’s willing to let go of the phantom. still, we know it’s valuable property, and we’re not going to sell it for anything under a fair price.”
“i thought,” said dick, “that there still might be some trouble over that mine, and that possibly you were willing to dispose of it for that reason.”
“not a bit of trouble,” smiled hodge. “all that thing seems settled. frank has downed his enemies in the west, and things are moving swimmingly. his san pablo mine, in mexico, is the richest property, but the expense of packing ore a long distance to the railroad, and shipping it north to a smelter, cuts down his profits. he has a scheme now of organizing a company to build a railroad that will give him an outlet to the north. it’s likely he’ll try to push this project along while he is in chicago. if the railroad is ever constructed, it is likely he’ll be actively engaged in the work. dick, your brother is a hustler.”
dick’s eyes gleamed and his face wore an expression of pride.
“frank’s all right,” he declared. “not many fellows have a brother like him.”
bart smiled and nodded.
“those are nearly the words he used about you the night before i left chicago. we were talking of old times at fardale, and finally he fell to speaking of you. he’s pretty proud of you, dick.”
“i don’t know of anything i have ever done to make him proud of me,” said the boy.
“well, i rather fancy you’ve demonstrated that you have the right stuff in you. he feels certain you’ll make a good record at yale if you get there.”
“bart,” said dick soberly, “the knowledge that my brother expects so much of me will be enough to always keep me at my best. not only does this keep me at my best, but i fancy, at times, it causes me to rise above myself. whatever i become, whatever successes i achieve, i shall owe everything to frank.”
bart rose quickly and seized dick’s hand. his own face was glowing now.
“my own sentiments, my boy,” he cried. “only for the influence and friendship of frank merriwell i might have gone to the dogs. i was well started on a bad road. when we first met i took a positive dislike to him, which rapidly developed into hatred. i was not above mean things at that time, and i lost no opportunity to injure him. almost any other fellow having such an enemy would have sought revenge for those injuries. instead of that, when i got into serious trouble frank gave me a helping hand. at first i thought he feared me, but after a while events demonstrated that he feared no one, and i realized that his actions came through his natural generosity and nobility.
“then i compared myself with him, and the result filled me with shame. at first i was resentful because i realized he was so much my superior. i tried to pull off by myself and keep away from him. fate would not have it so. the course of events flung us together, and it seems to me now that in a single moment all my hatred and jealousy vanished, and i came to respect and admire him, even though i fancied he could never regard me as a friend. i had a nasty disposition, and whenever anything went wrong i was inclined to take a slump and forget whatever good resolutions i had made. time after time he lifted me over bad places and set me on the right road. ninety-nine persons out of a thousand would have lost patience with me. he proved to be one in a thousand, and his patience never failed. he fancied he saw the making of a man in me, and therefore he forgave all my slips and failings. do you wonder i swear by him, dick?
“there came a time when my loyalty was taxed. i think i was smitten on elsie bellwood the first time i saw her; but i knew frank cared for her, and i fancied i would prove myself contemptibly disloyal if i betrayed him by showing the slightest regard for elsie. thus it was that for two or three years, at least, i smothered and repressed my feelings toward her. not until i knew beyond doubt that frank cared more for inza burrage than for elsie did i give way to my feelings. even then i didn’t dream elsie could care for me. but it has turned out all right at last.”
a strange look came to the boy’s face.
“if i tell you something, bart,” he said impulsively, “you mustn’t ever give it away. promise you won’t.”
“all right,” nodded hodge. “i promise.”
“well, had i been in frank’s place i’m sure i would have chosen elsie. don’t misunderstand me. i like inza, i admire inza.”
hodge laughed outright.
“dick,” he said, “you and i are much alike. i recognized that fact long ago. now tell me all about yourself and your experiences down here. i am going to write frank to-night in order to let him know how our little plan worked. he suggested the tramp business in imitation of a tramp we once met while making a tour with a ball team composed of yale men. the fellow called himself willie walker, or something of that sort, and he was a genuine hobo. i was knocked out and couldn’t go behind the bat. walker appeared on the field during practice and demonstrated that he could catch. merry put him into a game, and he proved to be a wizard. strangest part of it all was that he was a yale graduate who had once played on the varsity team. we never found out his real name. while frank and i were talking things over the night before i started east, he suggested that i should try the trick. i was certain i couldn’t make it work, but finally agreed to try it. it was lucky i did.”
“lucky!” cried dick. “i should say so! only for you we’d lost that game.”
“but the real luck came about when i heard fernald and this maplewood man, hammerswell, plotting downstairs in this hotel. i pretended to be asleep, but i was pretty wide-awake. all the time i was straining my ears to catch what they were saying. they kept muttering and whispering, and i could not hear much of it. however, i decided to watch fernald, and in that manner it came about that i got in with those toughs engaged by fernald to knock you and brad out. that upset fernald’s calculations somewhat, but he succeeded in drugging buckhart. fernald did not originate that plan; hammerswell was responsible for it.”
“that miserable scoundrel has been at the bottom of all the crookedness in this league!” cried dick. “he’s a thoroughbred rascal, and he’s bound to get his just deserts in time.”
dick then told bart all about his adventures since arriving in maplewood with his baseball team. naturally, hodge was very indignant as he listened to the recounting of benton hammerswell’s plots.
“i congratulate you, dick!” he cried when the boy had finished. “you have done amazingly well to hold your own in this league. it’s evident all the crookedness has been aimed at you. with the teams tied as they are, and fernald dropped from the management of the rockford team, you have a chance to land in first place. it’s going to be a hard game at maplewood to-morrow.”
“that’s right,” nodded dick. “hammerswell means to take that game, somehow.”
“better go to bed now,” advised hodge. “the rest of the boys are snoozing ere this. i shall sit up a while to write.”
long after dick had fallen asleep hodge sat writing to frank. he told how the tramp trick had worked, and all about dick’s gallant fight in the trolley league.
“it’s evident, frank,” he wrote, in conclusion, “that you have a brother with the real merriwell blood in his veins. he never quits. i wish you might be here to witness the final games in this league, for, unless fairhaven is beaten by treachery and plotting, i am confident dick will land his team on top at the finish.”
