Ben was silent, but he stared and stared and stared at Frank. He seemed trying to comprehend it.
"I wouldn't have believed it," he muttered--"I won't believe it now! It isn't Frank Merriwell! He wouldn't do a thing like that. He has a mind of his own, and he does not change his mind with every change of the wind."
"Only fools never change their minds, Hally. Men of reason and good sense are forced to change their minds occasionally."
As soon as he seemed able to comprehend it fully, Ben got up and approached Merriwell.
"Look here, Merry," he said, entreatingly, "don't be a fool! I'm going to talk plain with you! By Jove! Somebody should talk plain to you! I don't care if you kick me out of your room! If you whiffle around again you'll be the butt of ridicule for everybody. You'll never again have any standing in Yale. Man, you are throwing away your reputation! Can't you see it?"
Frank paled somewhat, but a firm look settled about his mouth, and he was unmoved.
"Surely, I have a mind of my own, and I have a right to do as I please in this matter," he said, his voice cold and steady. "I am my own master."
"Yes," confessed Ben, desperately, "but you must listen to reason. I haven't an idea why you have whiffled around again, but I do know it will ruin your reputation. Word has gone out that you will play full-back in the Harvard game. Forrest has the same as stated that he should put you in at the start, with Marline as substitute. Now think--think what it will mean if you again withdraw! Cæsar's ghost! Merry, you will be a dead duck in athletics and sports. You will be regarded with contempt."
"They'll say he cowed you--say you backed down because you feared him."
"You must have a reason for this new move."
"That's the old reason. There must be another."
"And do you want me to go out to the park without you?"
"You will have to go without me, for I am not going."
"And I have been bragging about getting him back on the eleven!" muttered Ben. "They'll jolly me to death, and I shall be so ashamed that I'll want to crawl into some sort of a hole."
"I am sorry about that, Hally," said Frank. "Believe me, I care more about it than about anything else."
"You do not mind the ruin of your own reputation?"