The aged actor stopped speaking, all the dignity seemed to melt from him in a moment, and he reached for his hat, murmuring:
"I merely came in for one small bracer. I needed it, and the gentlemen were good enough to invite me."
"Here!" coa.r.s.ely cried a man. "What"s this mean? Who"s this that"s comin" here to spoil our fun?"
"Throw the feller out!" cried another.
Growls of anger came from the others gathered about, and they crowded nearer.
"Look out for trouble!" whispered Hodge, in Frank"s ear.
"Get out of here," ordered the first speaker, confronting Merry. "We"re bein" entertained."
"I beg your pardon--gentlemen," said Merry, smoothly, hesitating slightly before the final word. "There are reasons why I come here to take Mr. Burns with me. I am sorry to spoil your entertainment, but it is necessary."
"Is the old fellow bound out to you?" sneeringly, asked one. "Do you own him?"
"No man owns me!" cried the tragedian, drawing himself up and staring round. "I am my own master."
"I"ll bet you don"t dare take another drink," said the man, quickly thrusting a br.i.m.m.i.n.g gla.s.s of whisky toward Burns. "You"re afraid of the young gent."
"I"m afraid of n.o.body," declared Burns, eagerly reaching for the gla.s.s.
"I have drunk all I could get, and I always shall, for all of anybody."
"That"s the talk!"
"Down with it!"
"Take your medicine!"
"You"re the boy!"
The crowd shouted its approval.
Burns lifted the gla.s.s.
Frank"s hand fell gently on his arm.
"Mr. Burns," he said, swiftly, "I ask you as a particular favor not to drink that liquor. I ask you as a gentleman not to do it."
Merry knew how to appeal to the old man in a manner that would touch the right spot. Burns looked straight into Frank"s eyes an instant, and then he placed the gla.s.s on the bar.
"If you ask me that way," he said, "ten thousand fiends cannot force me to touch the stuff!"
There was a groan from the crowd.
"The old duffer caves!" sneered one man. "He hasn"t any backbone."
"Oh, say!" sibilated Hodge, in Merry"s ear; "get him out of here in a hurry! I can"t stand much of this! I feel like thumping a few of these ruffians."
"Steady!" cautioned Frank. "We do not want to get into a barroom brawl if we can avoid it."
"They"re a purty darn tough-lookin" craowd," muttered Ephraim.
"Why wouldn"t it be a purty good thing fer ther young chaps all ter take a drink?" suggested somebody.
"That"s right!" cried the leader. "I"ll stand for them all, and the actor shall drink with them."
"Don"t let them git out, gents, till they"ve taken their bitters."
The rough men hemmed them in.
"I fear you are in an unfortunate predicament," said Burns. "You will have to drink with them."
"I never drink," said Merry, quietly.
"Yer can"t refuse here," declared the man who had offered to buy the drinks. "It"s a mortal insult ter refuse ter drink hyar."
"I never took a drink in my life, gentlemen," said Merriwell, speaking calmly, and distinctly, "and I shall not begin now. You will have to excuse me."
He started to force his way through the crowd. A hand reached out to clutch him, and he wheeled like a flash toward the man, at whom he pointed squarely, crying:
"Take off that false beard! If you are a man, show your face! You are in disguise! I believe you are a criminal who does not dare show his face!"
His ringing words drew the attention of the crowd to the man whom he accused.
Merry improved the opportunity and hurried his friends and Burns toward the door. Before the gang was aware of it, they were out of the saloon, and Frank breathed his relief.
Not till they had reached the theater did a thought come to Frank that made him regret his hasty departure from the saloon.
"Heavens!" he exclaimed. "I believe the man who wore the false beard was the same one who entered my room at the hotel by means of the rope!"
He dashed back to the saloon, followed by Hodge and Gallup; but when he reached the place nearly all the crowd had left, the man he sought having departed with the others.
Frank was disappointed. He learned at the saloon that the accused man had not removed the beard, but had sneaked out in a hurry after Frank was gone.
Returning to the theater, Merry was informed that Burns was behaving strangely.
"He seems to be doped," declared Hodge. "I think he has been drugged."
Burns was in a dressing room, and Havener was working to keep the man awake, although the old actor was begging to be allowed to sleep.
As soon as Frank saw him he dispatched one of the supers for a physician.
The doctor came and gave Burns a powerful emetic, following that with a dose of medicine that seemed to brace the man up. Thus Burns was pulled into shape for the afternoon performance, although Frank realized that he had very nearly wrecked everything.
Burns remained in the theater, and lunch was brought him there.