"You'll hear from him in time--and Weegman, too. What Garrity knows Weegman knows, and so he's wise that you're right here. Be ready for him when he shows up." Kennedy had only just gone when Weegman appeared. He laughed when he saw Locke, but it was an ugly laugh. "What do you think you're trying to do?" he demanded. "Didn't you get my telegram ordering you to report at the office of the club?" "Yes." "Well, why didn't you obey? What did you mean by coming right through without even sending me word?" "I had immediate business here in New York." "Business! I had business for you to attend to. You've been doing a lot of things without consulting me. Why didn't you wait until I gave you the contracts for the old players?" "There had been too much waiting, and time was precious. Kennedy had plenty of blanks, so I got them from him, filled them out, and sent them to the boys without further delay. It was the proper thing to do." "Don't tell me what's proper to do! I'll tell you. That was the distinct understanding, and you know it. Sent out the contracts, did you? Well, some of them ought to be coming back by this time." "They've all come back." "What?" "Every one of them. The Federals'll get no more players off us this year." Weegman choked, and the sound that came from his lips was not a laugh. "I haven't seen anything of them. They didn't come to the office." "No, certainly not." "Certainly not! Then where--where are they?" "I have them in my pocket." Lefty said it quietly, not at all disturbed by the wrath of the outraged schemer. It gave him much satisfaction to see Bailey Weegman shake and squirm. "In your pocket!" spluttered the rascal. "You had them returned to a different address? Confound your crust! How'd you ever have the nerve to do a thing like that? Let's see them. Hand them over!" Locke made no move to obey. "I think I'll keep them a while," he answered coolly. "I'll deliver them personally to be locked in the club safe." For a moment it seemed that Weegman would lose all control of himself and attack the southpaw. "You fool!" he raged. "Do you think you're going to get by with this stuff?" "I've made a pretty fair start at it." "So you never meant to stand by the private agreement between us when you signed as manager? That's it, eh?" "There never was any private agreement between us. I signed to handle the team, but I did not agree to become your puppet." "You did. You said that--" "That I understood the conditions you had proposed, but I did not say that I consented to them. I had no intention of letting you dictate to me." "Fool! Fool!" snarled Weegman. "How long do you think you'll last? And you made that crazy trade with Frazer! Do you know what I've done? Well, I've notified Frazer that the deal was irregular, and won't be recognized by the club. Not a dollar of that five thousand will he ever get."