illing to do the square
thing. I have made you a magnificent offer for that ring, which I am
anxious to possess."

"Far too anxious," muttered Frank.

"That is natural," declared the man, swiftly. "Did you ever collect
stamps? If you have, you should know something of the mania that
seizes upon a collector. It is thus with me. If I see an odd ring I
cannot obtain, I feel as if I had been robbed of something that
rightfully belongs to me."

He paused a moment in his talk, but Frank walked straight onward,
saying nothing.

"I have offered you a ridiculous price for that ring," continued the
man. "I cannot afford it, but my mind is set on having the ring.
Already I have spent a fortune in my collections, and the time has come
when I cannot fling money freely to the winds. Come now, young man,
have a little sympathy with me, and sell me that ring."

Under certain circumstances these words might have melted Frank, who
was not a cold-blooded lad, by any means; but there was something in
the stranger's villainous aspect and repulsive manner that had turned
the boy against the man in black and caused him to remain obdurate.

"I told you at first that it was useless to offer me money for this
ring," said the boy. "I think you will begin to understand that I
meant it."

"At least, you will tell me how it came in your possession?"

Frank hesitated. Surely there could be no harm in telling this, and it
might enable him to get rid of the stranger, so he said:

"It was given to me by my mother."

"And your mother--how did she obtain it?" swiftly asked the stranger.

"My father gave it to her. I do not know how it came into his
possession."

"Your father and mother----"

"Are dead."

"Ha! And you prize the ring because it was a present from your mother?"

"That is one reason."

"And there is another?"

"Yes."

"What?"

It suddenly struck Frank that he was talking altogether too much, and
so he answered:

"I decline to say. I have already told you enough, and I beg you to
excuse me. We will part here."

"First answer one more question. What was your father's name?"

"Charles Conrad Merriwell."

The man in black put a hand to his eyes, and seemed to be thinking for
a moment. Beneath his breath he muttered:

"Merriwell, Merriwell--I do not know the name."

Then, dropping his hand, he said:

"I will make you one more offer for the ring. I will give you fifty
dollars for it. See--here i