Chester rolled his second ball. This time he used a trifle too much speed. The ball seemed to hit the head pin squarely, and the pin took one of those peculiar, freakish jumps that carried it clean over the others without touching them. Arlington stood still in the middle of the runway with his hands on his hips, glaring at the pins. “I’d like to have some one tell how that happened,” he finally cried. “Hard luck!” said a voice. “You should have had your spare!” “I know it!” growled Chet, picking up another ball. He then did a foolish thing, for, having missed the spare, he rolled the final ball carelessly, the result being that it simply clipped off the corner pin. In a close candlepin bowling match every point counts, and the winner often is the man who can best pick off single pins. “Eight pins for Arlington!” said Gardner, as he recorded it on the score board, making a total of seventeen. Dick had hard luck with his first ball, cutting two pins out of one side of the bunch. “That’s a shame,” said Chester, laughing. Although Dick took the greatest pains, his next ball cut out two pins on the opposite side, and left in the worst possible position the ones standing. At this Chester laughed heartily. “A wooster!” he shouted. “You’ll get five pins on this roll, if you’re lucky.” Brad Buckhart was both angry and disgusted. “Well, that was beastly luck!” he muttered. “Pick off two of the corner ones, Merriwell, old man,” advised Barron Black, who was an interested spectator. Dick paused a moment in consideration. He had once been able to get eight pins out of a similar break by hitting the head pin, although he knew the chances were ten to one that he could not score more than two, while the odds were decidedly against obtaining more than one in hitting them in that manner. Nevertheless he decided to take chances and roll for all he could get. With this in his mind, he sent the third ball straight for the head pin. He gave it a twisting whirl as it left his hand, using great speed. The head pin was struck and sent flying against the others. To the astonishment of Arlington and the surprise of every one, those pins flew in such a peculiar manner that all save one went down. “Well, what do you think of that?” exclaimed Chet. “I think it was great luck,” smiled Dick quietly, as he turned to sit down on the bench. “Luck!” said Buckhart. “It was science. You hear me chirp!” “Science!” sneered Arlington. “Why, it wouldn’t happen in a hundred times! Science, indeed!” Gardner recorded the score on the board, the total giving Dick nineteen points and putting him two in the lead. “I think I will have to let myself out if I am going to beat his luck with my science,” said Chet. When the pins were up, he sent the first ball into them in such a manner that they all fell, save two. Those two were widely separated, but at one side of the alley a deadwood fell, lay spinning a moment, and then began to roll toward the other side.