He reached the end of the bar and Kelley served him. As he did so, Frank thrust a five-dollar bill over the bar, saying: “Upper cut.” “No good,” answered Kelley, shoving it back, to Frank’s dismay. “All gone.” “But Mr. Rafferty said——” “Rafferty? Are you one of his?” “Yes, he told me——” “Then you’ve got the last one there is.” The bill was taken, and a piece of pasteboard was tossed at Merry, who caught it deftly. On the pasteboard it said: UNION ATHLETIC CLUB. Sparring Exhibition. Admit Bearer. There was no date upon it. “Is this good for to-night?” asked Frank. “Sure,” nodded Kelley. “If you ain’t drinking anything but seltzer you’d better be getting in so that you’ll have a chance as near the ropes as you can get.” “I am going in now,” said a man. “You can come along with me, young fellow.” Frank gladly availed himself of the opportunity. “Well, if this isn’t luck!” he thought. “I am bound to get there now, and I think I’ll be sure to find Hodge.” He followed the man through a swinging door, and they passed along a dark wall till they came to another door. Then they ascended a flight of stairs, turned to the right, seemed to enter another building, traveled another passage, ascended more stairs, and came to a door where their tickets were taken. “How long before the go?” asked the man with Frank. “Not long,” was the doorkeeper’s response. “Fifteen or twenty minutes, perhaps.” They were admitted, and Frank soon found himself in quite a large room, with something like a pit in the center. In this pit was a raised platform, which was surrounded by ropes. All around this platform were rows of seats, rising tier on tier, as they do in a theater. From at least six different entrances people were streaming into that room, and already a great crowd occupied the seats. Men were smoking everywhere, but a huge fan ventilator seemed to carry off most of the smoke and keep the air fairly clear. Frank wondered if Hodge was there. He began to look around for Bart at once. “Come on,” urged his companion. “We must get as good a place to see as possible. Let’s get down in front.” But Frank was not so eager to get down toward the front, for he wished to be where he could overlook the crowd of spectators. He permitted the man to go ahead, but lingered behind. It was wonderful how swiftly those seats filled up. It was not long after Merry entered before every seat seemed taken and many were standing. Betting talk was being made on all sides. The odds seemed in favor of the “Sucker.” Still Frank could see nothing of Hodge, and it seemed that he had surveyed the face of every person present. He began to fear that Hodge was not present and would not appear. “If he ever dreams I have followed him he will stay away from here—he’ll get out of St. Jo.,” thought Merriwell. Although the seats were taken, still the spectators came pouring in.