Across the campus they swept. Word was passed around about what was going to happen, and it was a great crowd of college men that gathered beneath Merry’s window. Then somebody roared out a proposal for three cheers for Frank Merriwell, “the best man who ever made a touch-down.” And what a mighty cheer it was! They thundered their applause till the bare branches of the old elms quivered with the sound. Again and again they cheered.
At last the window was thrown open, and Frank appeared. What a greeting he received! It must have made his heart thrill! It must have made his eyes moist!
After a time, the crowd became quiet, and Frank spoke:
“Thank you,” he said, with a husky sound in his voice. “I don’t know just why you are cheering like that, but――――”
“We’re cheering for the whitest man in college and the best football-player living!” shouted somebody.
“That’s putting it pretty strong,” laughed Frank.
“But not a bit too strong,” came back instantly. “They’ve put up a job on you, Merriwell, but we won’t stand for it!”
“No,” said Frank, “I do not think it was a job, boys. Steve Lorrimer is a true-blue Yale man, and he wouldn’t stoop to anything like that. Whatever he has done, I am sure he did because he believes it is for the best interest of Old Eli.”
“Then he’s such a chump that he isn’t fit to manage a tennis tournament!” squealed Bink Stubbs.
“No matter what may happen to me,” said Merry, “I shall pray for the success of Yale, and nothing can hurt me worse than her defeat on Thanksgiving day. If she wins, fellows, we’ll have a glorious Thanksgiving. Good night, my friends――good night!”
He pulled down the window and was gone, but they lingered to give him another rousing cheer, and long after that groups of men could be seen on the campus, discussing and denouncing the action of Lorrimer.
If possible, Frank’s speech from the window of his room had made him more popular than ever. He had not uttered a single word in bitterness, and no honest student could doubt but he told the truth when he said that, no matter what happened to himself, he should pray for the success of Yale. He was utterly unselfish in his love for Old Eli.
The feeling against Lorrimer was not lessened by Frank’s words, however; if anything, it was intensified. That Frank had told the plain, unvarnished truth about the Yale men being overtrained scores of men attested. Lorrimer was a hard master. His heart was set on the success of the blue, but his judgment was at fault. He was a person who did not take criticism kindly. The following morning the newspapers of Boston and New York came out with the report that Frank Merriwell had been dropped from the Yale eleven. Various causes were assigned, but in no instance did a paper hit the truth. Some said he was suffering from injuries, others claimed that he was in wretched condition, and yet others averred that the whole case was one of spite.