CHAPTER V--DICK KEEPS THE LOCKET
Up one flight in the hotel was a window in the hall at the front of thehouse. Dick and June passed by this window, which, although closed, didnot prevent them from hearing the words of the boys below, and Junelaughed when Sammy declared he would soak Spike Hanlon in the mouth ifSpike said anything more about her.
"That's the kind of champion to have!" exclaimed Dick.
"They are going to fight!" exclaimed June. "That freckled boy is big andstrong."
"But I'll bet anything Sammy does him if they come to a genuine scrap,"said Dick. "But don't worry; there'll be no fight. The most of the boysare on Sammy's side, and the other fellow doesn't want to mix in."
They heard Spike's taunts just before he retreated, and June muttered:
"Just you wait and see what kind of a wheel he'll have! I'll make fatherbuy him the very best in the market."
"Then that other boy will turn green with jealousy," laughed Dick. "Itwill be a great triumph for Sammy."
"He deserves it."
"I agree with you. He is a most remarkable fellow, and I like him.Evidently he's a poor boy. But he didn't whimper when his wheel wassmashed, and that is why I say he is remarkable. Most boys would haveput up a terrible outcry over it."
"It is strange that my brother should have been hurt so badly just fromfalling backward out of the carriage when the horse started," said June.
"Is it a fact that he is badly hurt?" asked Dick.
"I fear so. The doctor told me that, at least, we had not better thinkof returning to Fardale before to-morrow. He said he would be able tosay positively to-morrow whether Chester is badly hurt or not. He iscoming back with another doctor in a short time, and they will make amore complete examination."
"For your sake," said Dick sincerely, "I am very sorry that your brotherwas hurt."
Dick spoke with perfect truthfulness, and she understood him. It is notlikely that he would have felt keen regret on Chester's account alone,but his interest in June made it possible for him to be sorry, as theaffair had caused her distress.
She thanked him, but she did not misinterpret his words in the least.She understood that her brother and Dick Merriwell were persistent andunrelenting enemies.
"I was so glad to see you win the game to-day," she said, seeming towish to change the subject.
"Yes, the boys did splendidly."
"They did very well, but you--you were the one who really won the game."
"In football every man is dependent on the others engaged in the game.Without their assistance he would be powerless to win."
"Oh, if you put it that way, of course no fellow could stand up aloneagainst eleven others and win a game. But that does not alter the factthat you were the one who won the game to-day. And I thought you badlyhurt that time when I--when I made a sensation by running on to thefield," she finished, her face getting very red.
She was confused, and Dick's heart beat a bit faster now. But shequickly found a way to make it appear that it was not purely fromagitation over Dick that she hurried on to the gridiron.
"I was so afraid that meant failure for the team! When I saw you downand feared you would have to leave the field, I knew Fardale was in abad scrape. Without a captain, she would have been defeated quickly."
Dick knew well enough that it was more than fear for the result of thegame that had caused her to rush pale and trembling across the field andkneel to lift his head while he lay helpless on the ground; but hepretended disappointment now, seeking to draw her out.
"I'm very sorry," he said, watching her closely; "I fancied you wereanxious on my account. I presume it was conceited of me to have such athought."
She looked him straight in the eyes.
"Doubtless my conduct was such that it gave you cause to think so," shenodded, perfectly at ease.
"Your conduct--and your words," he returned.
She remembered with some dismay that she had been greatly excited as shelifted his head and knelt on the ground. She could not recall the wordsshe had uttered at the time, but she knew she had called him "Dick," andshe entreated the doctor to tell her he was not badly hurt. Still Juneretained her self-possession, although she did not repress an added bitof color that again rose to her cheeks.
"I believe you were shamming, sir!" she asserted, severely. "You seemedalmost unconscious, yet you pretend that you heard what I said. I thinkyou dreamed that you heard it."
"Well, it was a very pleasant dream, and it quite repaid me for the jarI received in that little clash."
She could not resist his subtle compliment, and, in spite of herself-control, she felt her pulse thrill a little. Although a girl ofsixteen and usually most reserved, she was open to flattery in itsfinest form, as most girls are.
Dick, however, was no flatterer, and he spoke what he felt to be thesimple truth and nothing more. It is possible that his sincerityimpressed her.
"My locket----" she began.
"Oh, I hope you are not going to command me to return it to you again!"he exclaimed.
"No."
"I am thankful for that. I gave it up once, thinking you would begenerous enough to hear what I had to say; but you refused to see me orto permit me to explain----"
"Which was very unjust of me," she frankly admitted. "I was sorry whenit was too late, but you did not come again."
"Because I did not care to receive another snub."
"Will you pardon me?"
"Surely I will, now that I have the locket again. But I do not wish youto believe that I ever dropped that locket intentionally with the desireof having it become known that you had given it to me. I did not thinkyou could believe such a thing of me."
There was reproach in Dick's words, and she felt it.
"My brother made it seem that you did," she hastened to say;"and--and--another would not deny it."
"Another?" exclaimed Dick. "I know who it was! It was Hal Darrell!"
"I have not said so."
"But you cannot say it was not Darrell?"
"I will not say it wasn't or that it was."
"We were enemies once," said Dick, "but I found him pretty square, and Ican admire a fellow who is my enemy if he is honest. Later we became,not exactly friends, but reconciled. Somehow we could not get on realfriendly terms, though I fancy we both wished to be friendly at onetime. Of late he has changed, and I am satisfied that he is once more myenemy. I don't think he will lie about me, but it is possible he mightnot correct the false statement of another. Miss Arlington, is itpossible that, at the present time, there remains in your mind the leastdoubt concerning my behavior? If there is such a doubt, even though Iwould dearly love to keep your locket and your picture, I must beg youto take it back."
He was grim and stern now, and for a single instant she felt a trifleawed. Then pride came to her rescue, and she exclaimed:
"If you wish to get rid of it so much, I'll take it, sir!"
"I do not wish to get rid of it. Indeed, I wish to keep it always; but Icannot keep it knowing you might suspect me of showing it, laughing overit and boasting that it was a 'mash.' Do you understand?"
"I think I do," she said quietly. "I shall let you keep it, and you maybe sure there is no doubt in my mind. I believe you are a gentleman."
Dick had triumphed. Again he was a winner, and it made him glad indeed.He thanked her earnestly and sincerely, upon which she said:
"Foolish though it may seem, I am certain now that the locket has givenyou good fortune. I felt sure you would win the game for Fardale to-dayafter I gave you the locket, and you took it. Then, with the locketstill in your possession, you stopped the runaway. Keep it, and may itbe the charm to give you luck as long as it remains in your possession."
"I am sure it will!" he laughed. "As long as it contains that picture itwill remain a charm for me."
"You know I accept you as a friend, Mr. Merriwell; but my brother isangry with me, my mother will be more so, and my father will side withmy mother. I te
ll you this as an explanation of my conduct in thefuture, should anything happen to make it seem that I am unfriendly."
"I think I'll understand you."
"Then you will do better than most fellows," smiled June; "for they donot understand girls at all. Hal Darrell----"
Then she paused suddenly, for Hal himself had ascended the stairs andstopped, staring at them. His face was rather pale, and there was aglitter in his dark eyes.
"Oh, Mr. Darrell!" exclaimed June. "I have been looking for you."
"Have you?" said Hal, his eyes on Dick.
"Yes. Brother wants to see you. He's in room 37. Please go right up."
Hal stood still and stared at Dick a moment longer, after which hemounted the stairs to the second story and disappeared.