“Oh, some unknown. I agree with Manton that he’ll be shown up here if he ventures to take part. We’ll have the leading amateurs in the East.” “Gentlemen,” said Grafter, who appeared to have recovered his good nature, “if Mr. Merriwell enters for any of our contests, I’ll give you an opportunity to win some of my money, for I shall bet on him.” “Better use stage money,” advised Frost. “You won’t miss it so much.” “Don’t worry about me,” flung back Grafter. “If I lose some real money, I can stand it.” “That’s a good thing for you,” grinned Frost, in a chilly manner. “I think I heard you remark that you would give ten thousand to know Merriwell’s secret,” said Manton. “I’ll tell you what it is, and it won’t cost you a dollar. Pick out easy marks as opponents. In that manner you’ll always be a winner.” “I don’t fancy you think we have many easy marks belonging to this club or entered for the tournament?” “No, not many.” “Will you name some of the events in which men are entered who cannot be defeated by Merriwell?” “Ye-e-es; the standing long jump, the high jump, and the pole vault. The champions of the country are entered for these events, and Merriwell would be outclassed in any one of them.” “Perhaps he may be induced to take part in them.” “I doubt it. When he finds out the men who are entered, he’ll keep out. Why, Jack Necker, the Hartford man, is going out for the world’s championship, and he can jump some. My friend Frost is entered for the pole vault. He came within an ace of defeating Burleigh, the world’s champion, last year, and he can vault eight inches higher this year than he could then. He’d make Merriwell look like a high-school kid at it.” “Perhaps we’ll have a chance to find out very soon what Merriwell intends to do,” said Phipps, rising and looking down the winding drive. “Here comes a carriage, containing Bert Fuller and two strangers. I fancy one of the strangers is Frank Merriwell.” The Eagle Heights A.A. was peculiar in many ways. It was a “country club” for amateur athletes, most picturesquely located on the Hudson, some miles above Peekskill. One of the qualifications for membership was that each and every member must belong to some other amateur club and must be the champion of his own club in some particular line. For instance, Bert Fuller, president of the Eagle Heights A.A., was the champion gymnast of the Madison Square A.A.; Wallace Grafter was the best shot putter of the Catskill Club; Horace Manton was the star boxer of the Albany University Club; George Branch was the leading long-distance bicyclist of the Century Club, of Boston; Philip Phipps was the champion billiard player of the Poughkeepsie Pastime Club, and Denton Frost, of the Harlem Heights A.A., was a candidate for the championship of the world at pole vaulting.