“Impossible, my friend! The Clippers are all amateurs----”
“Oh, rats! I know too much about the game to swallow that talk, Merriwell, especially when Colonel Carson talks it.”
Merry looked troubled. He knew Carson was crooked as a corkscrew, but it was incredible that such a barefaced thing could be attempted.
“If you can swear that Diggs and Green are one and the same,” suggested Frank, frowning, “we could protest him.”
“No,” returned the traveling man regretfully. “I never seen Diggs close up, but I could recognize that wind-up a mile away. I couldn’t swear to it very well, though.”
“Then the game has to go on,” said Frank.
At this point the man next to his informant, who had been listening, chipped in the conversation.
“Old man Carson is betting all kinds of money, Merriwell. If that fellow is really Diggs, would it queer the bets?”
“Not exactly,” said Merry. “If we could prove it, of course, the bets would be off, and so would the game. But I see no chance of proving it.”
“Well, I’m backin’ your crowd,” went on the man anxiously. “I had a bet at even money with the colonel’s son, but he must have got cold feet. He ain’t showed up.”
“You’d better keep your money in your pocket,” advised Chip, turning away. “Betting is mighty poor business, especially where the Carson crowd is mixed up in it.”
He stood looking across the field, suddenly thoughtful. A thousand dollars--and Bully Carson also had boasted that he had a thousand in cash to bet--and Hostetter had been robbed of exactly that amount!
“That’s a mighty queer coincidence,” reflected Merry, worried. “Hostetter and Bully were friends, according to Colonel Gunn. Could it be possible that Carson did steal that money? But where is he now?”
That was a mystery. Evidently Bully had failed to meet the man with whom he was to bet, yet he had left Randall’s room for that express purpose.
“I believe he can explain that theft,” muttered Frank. “And I’ll make it my business to find him after the game.”
Returning to Coach Trayne, he repeated the information given him by the traveling man, and Trayne watched Green closely.
“He does resemble Diggs in general outline,” admitted the coach. “And his wind-up and delivery are exactly similar. Chip, I’ve a good notion to stop this game now!”