One day he was deep in a problem in geometry when there came a loud rap on the door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and in walked Ben Halliday. Frank looked up in surprise.
"h.e.l.lo! Hally," he called.
"h.e.l.lo! Merriwell," said the other, a trifle stiffly.
"What"s the matter, old man? You are not usually in the habit of knocking in that manner. Usually you walk in without being invited."
"Perhaps I have been a little too free in that respect," said Ben, significantly.
"Free! Not at all. You know any of my friends are welcome here at any time. This is Liberty Hall."
"That sounds all right, Merriwell," said Ben, remaining standing; "but, if you mean it, why should you say I am too fresh and take too many liberties?"
"I say so? Why, I never said anything of the sort Has any fellow reported me as saying that?"
"I heard it."
Frank came to his feet instantly.
"Heard me say so?" he cried. "Is that what you mean, Hally?"
"No; I mean that I have heard you did say so."
Merriwell advanced and placed his hands on the shoulders of his visitor, looking straight into Ben"s eyes.
"Halliday," he said, slowly, "have I ever been anything but a friend to you?"
Ben moved uneasily, and then answered:
"I do not know that you have."
"Did you ever know me to say anything behind the back of either friend or foe that I did not dare say to his face?"
"No."
"Did you ever know me to lie?"
"No."
"Then you will believe me, I think, when I tell you I did not say you were too fresh and took too many liberties. Some chap has been trying to make you my enemy. I have seen of late that you acted strangely but did not know why. Now I understand it. But I am surprised that you could believe such a thing of me."
Halliday was confused.
"Well," he falteringly said, "you see it"s this way: I knew you hated to throw up your grip on the football team and drop out entirely, and somebody said you were jealous of me because I did such good work against the Indians. You know my run in that game was compared with your famous run in the Princeton game last season. And you have not been just like yourself lately. Sometimes you have not looked at me when we met."
"Is that so?" asked Frank, in surprise. "I didn"t know it. Must be my mind is on my studies too much. And still I made a dead flunk the day after the Carlisle game. There had been so many reports that the Indians had a new trick that was sure to enable them to win, and, knowing as I did what bulldogs they are to play, I was all nerved up with anxiety.
Couldn"t seem to keep my mind on my studies for a week before the game, and it grew worse and worse the nearer the time came. After it was over, I found I might as well have taken part in the game."
"That"s just it!" cried Halliday, quickly. "That"s why I dropped around to see you."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"Why don"t you get back on the team?"
"Get back? What are you driving at? You"re doing good work.
"I don"t want to crowd you out."
"You wouldn"t. They need you as full-back."
"You played that position in the game with the Indians."
"But I am not to play it again. I am quarter-back now."
"Is that right?" cried Frank, in surprise. "Your position has been changed? How did that happen?"
"Quigg is out of it for the season. You know he was hurt in the last game. Doctor says he must not play any more this year. I have been shoved into his place in a hurry."
"What"s that for?"
"Forrest did it. A new man is going to be tried at full-back--Rob Marline. Forrest is desperate. He says the team is broken all to pieces, and stands a poor show with either Harvard or Princeton. This will be a dismal season for Old Yale."
Frank turned pale and seemed to stagger a bit, as if he had been struck.
It was a shock for him to know that Yale was in danger. He had supposed she was all right and everything was running well.
"We did not make the showing against the Indians that we should have made, although we beat them," Halliday went on. "But for my lucky run, we might have been beaten."
"I didn"t know----" began Frank, falteringly.
Ben made a fierce gesture.
"What"s the matter with you Merriwell?" he savagely cried. "Didn"t know?
You should know! You are the fellow of us all who should know. You have changed, and it has not been for the better. I tell you we stand a slim show with Harvard and Princeton, and you are needed just as you were needed at the tug of war. That being the case, you have no right to shut yourself up here in your room and plug away, seeming to take no interest in anything but your studies and recitations. You have been the most popular man in college, but your popularity is on the wane. I"ll tell you why, if you want to know."
Frank was still whiter, if possible. Was this Halliday talking to him in such a manner--Halliday, who had ever seemed to stand in awe of him? It was plain enough that Ben was giving him a "call down," but what shook Merry the most was the fact that he began to feel that it was merited.
"I should like to know," he said, slowly.
Ben could not tell what effect his words might have on Frank, but he was reckless, and he did not care.
"You can punch my head, if you want to," he said, "but I am going to talk plain. Don"t seem to be anybody else who dares to talk to you. They kick and growl and say things behind your back, but they don"t come right at you with what they want to say. They are saying that you are afraid to play on the eleven this year."
Frank stiffened up.