the sun had swung into the western sky. under full steam the big white yacht sachem was headed toward the northeast. the yacht was owned by henry crossgrove, the steel magnate, and on board was gathered a large party of his friends, several of whom were enjoying the sunshine and the sea breeze on the main deck.
of those on deck, five persons are especially interesting to us. the handsome chap in the yachting costume who frequently bent over a beautiful girl seated at his side and spoke with her in low tones was frank merriwell, dick’s brother. the girl was inza burrage.
not far away, in a little triangular group, were bruce browning and harry rattleton, frank’s old yale comrades, and elsie bellwood.
it was no mere chance that had brought them together. frank had planned it, but in the first place his purpose had been to proceed by rail to rockford and cross on one of the regular boats to fairhaven island. in boston, after having gathered his party ready for the start, merry encountered henry crossgrove, and happened to mention he contemplated making the trip.
immediately crossgrove informed frank that his yacht lay in the harbor, and, as he was bound toward waters in the vicinity of fairhaven, he would hoist anchor without delay. frank was ready to accept the steel man’s hospitality on the sachem.
“you and i have had some dealings in the past, mr. merriwell,” said crossgrove, “and i deem it a privilege to have you and your friends as guests.”
“but i must arrive in fairhaven to-morrow in time to witness a game of baseball in the afternoon,” said frank. “my brother is down there running a ball team, and the game to-morrow finishes the season. i wouldn’t miss it for anything, mr. crossgrove. do you think you can land us there all right?”
“without question i will have you in fairhaven in time for that ball game,” nodded the millionaire. “it will be a much more comfortable and satisfactory way of making the trip. by rail, at this season, it’s hot, and dusty, and disagreeable. come, come, merriwell, my boy, i won’t take no for an answer.”
“then it’ll be yes,” laughed frank.
in this manner it was arranged, and frank and his friends were on the sachem when the yacht steamed out of boston harbor at evening.
the trip had proved most enjoyable, but now frank seemed somewhat worried and restless. as he stood near the rail he frequently glanced at his watch.
inza noticed this, and in a low tone she said:
“it will be too bad, frank, if you don’t get there in time. i know how much you want to see the game.”
“hush!” said merry, forcing a slight smile. “if we don’t arrive in time for the game, we’ll not let crossgrove know how disappointed we are. he’s a fine gentleman and a thoroughbred, and i wouldn’t wish him to think for a moment that he had disappointed us through his generous hospitality.”
“i say,” cried harry rattleton, “isn’t it great to be on the sounding bee—i mean the bounding sea? why, even the air out here is full of wind!”
“so are you,” grunted browning, who was lazily sprawled on a comfortable chair and puffing away at a brierwood pipe. “the hot air you’ve been giving us for the past hour is getting a little tiresome, rattles. can’t you close your face and let me rest?”
“why don’t you do your neeping slights—i mean your sleeping nights?” inquired harry. “i don’t believe you ever wake up any more. you’ve been in a trance for the last few hours.”
“on the occasion when i last met him before our meeting in boston yesterday morning,” said merriwell, “he was pretty wide-awake. it was at a little railroad town down in the southwest. hodge, wiley, and i were passing through that town when we saw a chap beset by a dozen burly ruffians. evidently they were trying to lynch him. he was a big fellow, and he knocked them right and left with tremendous blows. it was hodge who recognized him, i believe. bruce browning was the fellow, and he was very wide-awake on that occasion.”
“that’s right,” grunted browning, “but you haven’t told the story quite straight, merry. it was barney mulloy the ruffians were after. i sailed in to give him a hand, and then you folks chipped in just in time to help us both out. by george, merry, i thought you’d dropped right down from the skies! say, that’s a great country down there. mulloy is down there now, running our mine. he’s a dandy, that irishman! he’s the whitest, squarest, most reliable fellow i ever saw—present company excepted. we’ve not had your luck, merriwell; but i believe we have a valuable claim down there, and we’ll make a dollar out of it some day. you and hodge were mighty fortunate.”
“there’s no question about that,” agreed frank instantly. “still, we’ve had to fight for our rights. it was a hard old fight to hold the phantom mine, but we held it. hodge seemed anxious to sell in case we could get the price. that’s what brought us to chicago. the syndicate that had made us the offer balked, and the deal seemed to be as good as off. i saw the people in the syndicate fancied we were very anxious to sell. then i let hodge come on here, while i remained in the city and worked the wires a little. we agreed before bart left that we would take a smaller sum than our original price, but after he departed i made up my mind that the way to work the thing was to go up on the price, instead of making a drop. then i struck a lofty pose and let the syndicate run after me. i gave them the impression that i was on the verge of pulling out for new york to talk with other parties. they came round and attempted to do some dickering. they were willing at last to split the difference, but then i commenced to rub it in. i told them that i had decided that our original price was altogether too low. we had a hundred and fifty thousand dollars’ worth of ore on the dump. it was in plain sight. in our shaft any man could see prospects that proved the lode one of the richest in arizona. we had decided to advance our original price just fifty thousand dollars. they could take it or leave it. we were utterly indifferent.”
frank laughed a little over the remembrance of that transaction.
“and they took it?”
“not right away,” said merry. “they seemed indignant, and accused me of all sorts of craziness. they agreed to give the first price demanded. i said, ‘nay, nay; it’s fifty thousand more if you want the phantom.’ then they said, ‘all right, mr. merriwell, we don’t want your old mine; your price is ridiculous.’ says i, ‘good day, gentlemen.’ they departed, but within two hours one of them came back. it seems that he had been authorized to pay my increase of fifty thousand if there was no other way to get the property. the moment i saw him i decided on a new price. after he had talked with me a few moments and found i had not reduced my figures any, he announced that the syndicate was ready to buy on my terms, and he was there to close the deal. then i informed him that since my last quotation on the price, i had been figuring the thing over and had decided that it was folly to sell so low. i had advanced the price fifty thousand more.”
merry laughed heartily as he recalled the incident.
“ugh!” grunted browning. “you always did have plenty of nerve, frank.”
“you should have seen my visitor,” chuckled merry. “he came near falling in a fit. i surely thought he was done for. then he rose up and frothed, and made a lot of wild talk. he said it was an imposition. i had named a price in the first place, and they had agreed to it.
“i reminded him that they had not agreed to it in the first place. since naming that price i had figured the matter over a little and had gone up on my terms. i was still figuring. as i made this statement i turned to a sheet of paper at my side and began to figure. well, you should have seen that man jump on me. he was scared blue. i believe he expected me to shove her up another fifty thousand right away. he pushed a check at me to bind the bargain, and accepted my terms then and there.”
“well, you’re a dim jandy—i mean a jim dandy,” spluttered rattleton. “i’d never have the nerve to raise the price on anything fifty thousand at a jump.”
“the property is worth it, and those men knew it,” said frank. “only for the fact that i have the queen mystery and the san pablo to look after, and they keep me very busy, i should not have been so willing to sell. hodge will be somewhat surprised when he finds out what has happened. the building of a railroad in mexico that will connect the san pablo with the outer world is going to take up much of my time and attention in the future. the san pablo is marvelously rich, or it would not pay me to pack ore more than two hundred miles over a rough and sterile country to the largest railroad, and thence ship it north to smelters in arizona. i am intensely interested in this railroad scheme, and hodge has become interested and enthused himself. the san pablo is not the only mine down in that region. others will be opened, and hodge is anxious to be on the ground.”
as he said this frank covertly watched the face of elsie bellwood, and saw a shadow fall upon it. instantly his heart relented, and he exclaimed:
“cheer up, elsie; i was talking to amuse myself more than anything else. bart has told me he should seek some business in the east, if you urged it.”
“but you, frank—you are going right away into mexico?” questioned elsie.
“it’s absolutely necessary,” nodded merry gravely. “i can’t get out of it, even should i wish to.”
at this moment henry crossgrove, stout and florid, came toward them, mopping his face with his handkerchief.
“the captain tells me we will reach fairhaven island within an hour,” he said. “i hope that will enable you to see the whole of the baseball game, merriwell. sorry we are not there now.”
“oh, it’s all right,” smiled frank. “if we miss the first of the game, we may arrive in time to see the finish. we’ve had a delightful little cruise, mr. crossgrove, and we’ll not soon forget your hospitality.”
