Читать книгу Frank Merriwell's Prosperity; or, Toil Has Its Reward онлайн

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“What’s this?” said Garland, stooping and picking up the crumpled sheet of paper. “There’s writing upon it.”

“Yes,” said Frank, as he quickly took it from the man’s hand. “I threw it down there.”

Again Vance was disappointed.

“Merriwell is too proud to let us know,” he thought. “He doesn’t want us to think he was fooled by Hodge.”

“Well, I, for one, shall not feel very good toward Hodge if he does come back,” admitted Dunton. “What are we going to do, Mr. Merriwell? The town is billed for the play, the day has arrived for the performance, and there is a big advance sale.”

“We’ll have to lay off to-night,” answered Frank, as if that settled it without further talk. “I will attend to that. Don’t let it worry you.”

“How can you get a man to fill Hodge’s place?” asked Garland.

“That I do not know yet.”

“I wonder what he was after in this room,” came from Vance, in a last desperate effort to force Frank to speak out. “He sneaked out of here as if he had committed a crime. You haven’t lost anything, have you, Mr. Merriwell? He didn’t take anything from you, did he?”