The moment Frank saw Danny’s face, he realized something was wrong. “What is it, old man?” he asked, as Griswold came up, panting. “They’re looking for the fellow who did it.” “Did what?” “Broke his ribs.” “Broke whose ribs?” “The cop’s.” “Why, the little fellow with the red head and liver face.” “The one who tried to arrest Browning?” “Same.” Frank whistled. “And his ribs were broken?” “That’s it. He says it wasn’t the big fellow who did it, but some other chap slammed him up against a stone post and smashed his ribs in. Officers have been here trying to locate the fellow. We’re in danger of being pulled up as witnesses--or worse.” “Accused, you mean?” “Any of us may be.” “Well, who did it, anyway?” “Hodge.” Frank started. “Hodge?” he cried. “Are you sure, old man?” “No.” “Then why did you say that?” “Noon says Hodge slammed the cop up against the post.” “Noon says so, eh? Did he see it?” “Says he did.” “And he is talking about it openly?” “Don’t know about that. He talked to me about it.” “Anybody else present?” “No.” “I must see Noon.” Merriwell was aroused, for he realized that Bart Hodge was in danger. Were Hodge arrested for injuring the policeman, and should the charge be proved against him, his college career might come to a sudden termination. Frank had pulled his friend out of more than one bad hole, and he believed he understood Bart’s nature pretty well. Hodge was again on the high road to an honorable career, guided by Merriwell’s hand, but to thwart him at the very outset of his college life would mean almost certain ruin. Merry’s teeth came together with a click when he realized the danger that menaced Bart. “I’m afraid you made a mistake in introducing that freshman to our gang,” complained Griswold. “None of the fellows cared to know him, but they accepted him simply because of your friendship toward him. This is the result.” Frank was not pleased by Danny’s words. They did not sound as if they came from the little fellow’s mouth. “None of my friends were forced to meet Bart Hodge,” he said, quietly. “Hodge and I were schoolmates together, and, when he came to Yale, I was not going to be cad enough to cut him because he is in a lower class than myself. I am not built that way.” “Oh, you might have treated him decent, without having him in your room so much.” “No, you are mistaken. At Fardale Academy we were roommates. What sort of a fellow would I have been had I shown, when he came to Yale, that he was not wanted in my room?” Danny did not answer the question, but stood grinding his heel into the ground, looking downward. “I trust you see plainly enough that I did what any white man should do, Gris?” said Frank, letting a hand fall on Danny’s shoulder. “Oh, I am not going to set myself up as a judge of your actions,” was Griswold’s impatient retort. “All I know is what it has brought us to. If I am pulled up and forced to tell what I know about the way the cop was hurt----”