cowboy in a baseball game. Frank and his chums
had won the relay Marathon and Frank had pitched his cowboy team to
victory. Yet Blunt still refused to be satisfied.

The "Cowboy Wonder," as Blunt called himself, had been reared by a man
who had implanted in his growing mind a vast array of false notions. By
these, the Wonder regulated his conduct, with a result that was
ludicrous at times, and at other times almost tragic.

There was something about the queer fellow that young Merriwell liked.
And yet, while he sympathized with Blunt to a certain extent, he was
forced to condemn his rashness and dare-devil behavior.

"Clan." said Merry, as he and his chums moved on into the trackless
desert, "while I sat in McGurvin's adobe it flashed over me, all at
once, that we had forgotten something about Professor Borrodaile which
might possibly explain his absence."

"What was that?"

"Why, you remember how we left Happenchance in such a hurry, the time we
went to the place and found the prof?"

"We were chased out by Blunt and his puncher friends."

"Not exactly. We were hurrying out ahead of them in order to reach the
automobile and beat Blunt to Gold Hill with the professor's location
notice. Well we were in such a rush that Professor Borrodaile had to
leave his luggage behind. Now, wouldn't it be the natural thing to
suppose that the prof returned to Happenchance after his goods and
chattels?"

"Holy mackerel!" exclaimed Clancy. "You've nicked it, Chip! That's just
what the harmless old fossil has done. He wanted his trunk, and he
slipped out of Gold Hill and went after it. We're thick, all right. It's
a wonder that some of us didn't think of that earlier in the game. I
shouldn't be surprised if we found the prof back in his old place in the
only house left in Happenchance!"

"It's possible," said Merry. "Anyhow, that's the idea that flashed
through my mind as I sat talking with McGurvin. And that's the reason I
contracted for the canteens, the water, and the rations. Then, when
McGurvin said what he did about Blunt, I was more anxious than ever to
keep on to Happenchance."

"What do you think Blunt has got up his sleeve this time?"

"He's so full of wild ideas that there's no telling. If the professor is
in Happenchance, then Blunt has some reason for following him there."

"And out of it all, Chip." declared Clancy, "there's going to come a
contest of some sort between you and Blunt. The fellow's crazy on the