"My dear boy, I do not fancy I was expected to pitch that game. It was thought that I would keep the money. That money was marked. This man would have gone forth and blowed that he had bribed me. He would have told what marked money he had given me. I should have been cornered--perhaps arrested--then searched. You see what that would have meant. The marked money would have been found on my person. It would have been exactly as the stranger had described it. It is certain that somebody was watching and saw him give me the money. That person would have testified against me. Then Frank Merriwell's college career would have come to a sudden termination. In some ways it was a bungling plot, and in others it was crafty enough." "But a cool thousand--that was an awful roll to push at a fellow!" "It was a bold and desperate stroke, and the fact that such a sum was offered shows that the one who put up the job knew I could not be bought with a petty amount. He did not know that it made no difference whether it was one dollar or one million--I would not sell my honor and betray dear old Yale for any sum!" "You have other enemies besides Flemming." "Yes--Thornton." "He doesn't count, for he lacks nerve." "Whom do you mean?" "Harris does not love you." "It will be a long time before Sport Harris will venture to lift a hand against me again, for the memory of the fate of his comrade, Hartwick, is too vivid before him. Hartwick brought disgrace and ruin on himself by trying to injure me. He was forced to leave college, and then, when he came back to New Haven and put up that race-track job on me, he finished his own downfall by robbing his father in order that he might have a sum of money to stake against me, feeling sure I must lose. Directly after that race he was arrested." "What was done about that matter? Was he sent to prison?" "No; his father would not press the case; but I have heard that the old man's heart is broken by Hartwick's actions. The worthless rascal was the apple of the old man's eye. His father had expected to see him go through college and graduate with flying colors. The disgrace has bowed the father with grief, and it is said he cannot live long." "Then Hartwick will get all his money." "No. The old man has made a will that cuts Evan off with a very small sum. The rest of the money and estate goes to other relatives and to charity." "And Evan Hartwick brought all this on himself by his dastardly attempts to injure you. It should be a warning to others." "It is an old saying that 'the way of the transgressor is hard,' but it seems to take human beings a long time to become convinced that it is absolutely true." Frank kept his eyes open, and waited for the second warning, which he felt sure would come. He was not mistaken, for it came near night.