ered the car.

Merriwell followed, taking out his handkerchief and pressing it lightly
to the spot on his cheek where a slight bruise marked the spot that had
felt the enraged lad's fist.

The witnesses of this scene seemed to breathe freely for the first time.
They stared at Frank as if his marvelous display of strength had been a
revelation to them.

Yates had plenty of friends, as he had never seemed a bad sort of
fellow, but the fact that he had struck Merriwell while the latter was
sitting down was against him.

"He's been drinking," one declared. "Merriwell could not have handled
him that way otherwise."

"Did Merriwell really mean to throw him off?" asked another.

There were some murmurs of disapproval at Frank's action, but the
expressions of astonishment and admiration for his display of strength
drowned all other sounds.

Yates turned and looked at Frank, but he seemed unable to express his
feelings by means of words.

Jack Diamond was flushed with rage.

"It would have served the fellow right if Merriwell had dropped him
off!" declared the hot-blooded Southerner.

Andy Emery was near at hand, but he had been unable to give Yates any
assistance when the latter was grasped by Frank.

"Good heavens!" he kept repeating, as he stared at Frank Merriwell in a
manner that showed his unutterable amazement.

It was plain that such a display of strength had been a revelation to
him, and from that time Emery was bound to regard Merriwell with renewed
respect.

"Mr. Yates," said Frank, quietly, "this is no place to settle any
quarrel that has arisen between us; but I wish to say before witnesses
that I consider you entirely in the wrong, and certainly you owe me an
apology. You may not think so now, but I believe you will think so in
time."

That was all. He returned to his seat and sat down. Yates seemed to
hesitate, and then turned away, accompanied by Emery.

Flemming had kept himself in the background during the entire affair.

When the train reached Springfield Yates was in no condition to go to
the ball ground. He had taken too much whiskey to carry, and his
pretended friends, Flemming and Emery, were forced to get him out of
sight as soon as possible.

"That ought to be a settler for him," said Diamond. "A fellow who is in
training for a race can't afford to get loaded."

Yale men had heavily backed their own club to win, and it seemed that
the majority of the Harvard crew was trying to put