“Oh, but the police say the story is all right,” snickered Dagett. “Have you forgotten that Officer Jordan, who arrived on the scene after the holdup men had escaped, picked up a human finger that had been shot from one of the ruffians’ hands by the wonderful cowboy, Bradley Buckhart? Say, I wonder how much those two fellows paid the cops and the reporters to get such a yarn into the papers?”
“Then you don’t take any stock in that holdup story?” questioned Wolfe quickly.
“Well, I don’t know,” said Bern. “It doesn’t seem to me that the yarn can be wholly a fake.”
“I should fancy some one would expose the deception.”
“I don’t know whether it’s a fake or not,” said Toleman, “but I agree with Jim in thinking Merriwell has a case of cold feet, and is getting out of pitching this game by pretending his shoulder is lame. It’s an outrage to shove Kates in there to-day. Manhattan has Hogan, their very best pitcher, against us. He’s on the slab now. Watch him. Note what he does to our boys.”
“Our boys! He! he! he!” scoffed Dagett. “Do you mean Mike Lynch? I suppose you’re dead stuck on Mike now that he’s become a Merriwellite? Yah! He makes me sick! What do you think of a fellow like him posing as the soul of generosity and paying other fellows’ debts? I don’t blame Ditson for taking advantage of his attempt to fool people, but I guess we all know the kind of a fellow Lynch is.”
“By the way, Wolfe,” questioned Toleman, “where is Ditson? Is he here?”
“I don’t know,” answered Bern. “I haven’t seen him to-day.”
But Wolfe lied. He had seen Duncan, and he believed he knew what the fellow was doing that very hour. Both Ditson and Wolfe felt that they were hovering over a volcano that might burst forth any moment. They were frightened, and had agreed that they must take certain precautions to protect themselves.
Hogan now opened up on Tommy Tucker, who was the first batter for Yale. The visiting pitcher had a great assortment of shoots and benders which seemed too much for Tommy to fathom. As a result, Tucker slashed the air twice, fouled a couple of times, and then lifted a little pop-fly which Halloran gathered in.
Mike Lynch looked grim enough as he strode forth to the plate. He had been placed second on the batting order because of his ability as a hitter. Realizing, however, that he was not a popular man in his own class, Mike now seemed distressingly self-conscious, and, as a result, he fell an easy victim to the wiles of Hogan, who struck him out.