“I am going to hold this Gregg a day or two for a purpose before I give him a trial. The police are looking for some information they believed the prisoner could give them, and they proposed to ‘put on the screws.’” Frank and Bart assured the judge that they would remain in Philadelphia four days and could be found at the Continental when wanted. Then they were allowed to depart. Immediately after lunch Merriwell started for Charlie Creighton’s, feeling a strong anxiety to know how severely Fanny Darling had been burned. As for Merriwell, he was astonished to find he had not been seriously injured by the fire. The prompt attention given his hands by the doctor had saved them from blistering, and, although they were red and tender, they promised to be all right in a day or two. He had them done up again, and was advised to keep the air from them as much as possible till the following day. Creighton and his sister were at home, and they welcomed Frank warmly. “I called at the Continental this forenoon to see you,” said Charlie; “but you and Hodge were out. However, the fellows told me your hands seemed much better than you had expected they would be.” “Yes,” nodded Frank; “they seem to be coming out all right. The stuff the doctor put on them appears to have worked marvels.” “I am so glad!” exclaimed Mabel. “It seemed terrible to think you might be hurt so you could not play football this fall, for Charlie says Yale could not get along without you.” “Creighton is too kind!” exclaimed Frank. “He overestimates my abilities. But I wish to ask about Miss Darling. Have you heard from her to-day?” “Yes, I have seen her. One of her arms is quite severely burned, but that seems to be all. She says she will be all right in two or three days, at most.” “I am very glad to hear that, for I feared her burns might be more severe than was supposed at first. I reached her as soon as possible after she screamed.” “It’s amazing to me that you reached her as quickly as you did,” declared Charlie. “Wallace Hegner was with her, and he did not find an opportunity to lift his hand to help her.” “He acted like a coward!” exclaimed Mabel, her eyes flashing. “He retreated from her, and he has been rewarded for his pusillanimous act.” “Rewarded—how?” “When he tried to see her last evening after her burns had been attended, she refused to have anything to say to him, and she says she’ll never speak to him again.” “Well,” said Merry, slowly, “I don’t know but that fire was a good thing if it has opened her eyes to Hegner’s true character.” Creighton flushed and looked abashed, whereupon Frank quickly cried: “I beg your pardon, old man! I made a break then, for I forgot you introduced us.”