“you can see what’s happened, darrel,” said lenning, turning with a weary air to his half brother. “the colonel is down on me worse than ever; and he’s down on you, too.”
merry, darrel, and lenning were surrounded by a crowd about equally composed of gold hill and ophir players. the revelation that had stripped the mask from the supposed mexican joe, leaving in his place the friendless jode lenning, had come as a stunning surprise.
“i’d like to know something about this, chip,” said ballard. “it strikes me that you haven’t been square with us.”
“he was as square as he could be, pink,” answered darrel. “after the plot was hatched he couldn’t very well give it away, could he?”
“where the deuce is mexican joe?” asked clancy.
“i got a note from burke last evening,” merriwell exclaimed, “which informed me that joe had been called suddenly back to the bedside of his sick relative. that put me strictly up against it, till darrel blew in and suggested that lenning be substituted for mexican joe, but without telling any one the difference.”
“i had a hard time getting jode’s consent,” said darrel, “but finally, more to please chip and me than anything else, he agreed. i secured that stain for him in town, and burke got him some clothes that looked enough like the greaser’s to pass muster. he was a pretty close imitation of the real thing, eh, fellows?” darrel laughed, slapping his half brother heartily on the back.
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“i should say so!” exclaimed clancy. “why, we had the real mexican with us for a couple of days, and yet i couldn’t see any difference between the two.”
“nor i,” said ballard. “lenning was a dead ringer for mexican joe.”
“what was the plot aimed at, chip?” asked blunt.
“it was aimed at you fellows and the colonel. we thought lenning would make such a good record in the game that he would win the approval and good will of the colonel and the boys from gold hill and ophir. but,” merry finished regretfully, “i guess we made a miss of it, and that the plot failed.”
“not much it didn’t fail—that is, not entirely,” blunt resumed. “lenning has shown himself a good deal of a man, by jumping into this thing like he did, and i for one feel as though i had made a blamed fool of myself.” he turned to lenning. “will you shake hands,” he asked.
a gratified smile wreathed itself about lenning’s lips.
“you bet i will, blunt!” he exclaimed. “the plot certainly worked out all right if it gave me barzy blunt for a friend.”
“shucks!” grunted blunt, deeply touched. “i reckon i acted like a coyote, t’other day, when i allowed i wouldn’t have you in this nine of chip’s. i’m sorry i tuned up like i did.”
“just forget it, blunt,” smiled lenning.
“i feel a good deal the same as barzy does,” spoke up handy. “if it hadn’t been for you, lenning, dropping into our team as a substitute for the mexican, i reckon we would have lost out. will you shake with me?”
and, beginning right there, jode lenning held an impromptu reception. reckless was next to grip his hand
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after handy had released it; then came clancy and ballard, and every player that was left in both teams.
“i guess you fellows didn’t fall down on that plot, after all,” laughed clancy. “you made good on the diamond, lenning, and that has shown a few of us what pesky idiots we were.”
“i—i want you to understand, fellows,” said lenning, his voice trembling and his eyes misty, “that i appreciate your show of confidence in me. i have turned over a new leaf, and i’m not particularly anxious to curry any favor with colonel hawtrey. i gave him cause to treat me as he did, and i don’t want him to think i’m sneaking around, trying to get him to take me back and help me. i wouldn’t go back if he offered to take me. i’m earning my way now, and i want to be independent.”
“that’s the talk!” approved barzy blunt.
“come on over to the gym, fellows,” called merry, “and let’s get under the showers. i think we’ll all feel better for a bath and a rubdown.”
“it’s like going home, el,” lenning whispered to darrel, with a catch in his voice.
silently darrel’s arm went around his half brother and tightened affectionately.
the plot may have failed in so far as it concerned colonel hawtrey, but in other ways, equally far-reaching, it had been a success.
