the only
fellow he did not know very well, and, if there was an enemy among them,
Creighton must be the man.

Frank resolved to show no suspicion.

"What's up?" he asked.

"To-night," cried Griswold, dramatically, "the curtain will go up on one
of the greatest tragedies ever enacted on any stage--nit!"

"Hush!" whispered Creighton, mysteriously. "Whisper it softly. 'Uncle
Tom's Cabin' is in town, with two _Little Evas_, two _Marks_, three
real Siberian bloodhounds, bred in New Jersey, and a jackass."

"The jackass is the manager of the company," grinned Griswold.

"I presume you have heard of that immortal play, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,'
Mr. Merriwell?" questioned Creighton.

"Methinks I have," assured Frank.

"'Methinks' is good," nodded Creighton. "It has a fat sound."

"Eh?" grunted Browning, who already had deposited his corpulent body on
the couch. "Did anybody speak to me?"

"Ah, Mr. Browning," said Creighton, "I think you said as we were coming
along that you have had the pleasure of seeing 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'?"

"Yes, I said so."

"Then permit me to inquire if you have ever seen 'Ten Nights in a
Barroom'?"

"No," grunted Bruce; "but I have seen ten barrooms in a night."

"Here, hold up!" cried Griswold, promptly. "That belongs to me, and I
have used it on everybody I could hit with it."

"Never mind," murmured Browning. "It is a good thing, so we'll have to
move it along."

"Seriously," said Diamond, "there is a crummy 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'
company at a cheap theatre in town, and Creighton has purchased a box.
He wants us to go along."

"That's the idea," acknowledged Charlie. "All the fellows are onto it,
and there will be two or three hundred Yale boys there. We won't do a
thing to the hamfatters!"

Frank smiled. He saw that it would be an opportunity for any amount of
sport he was sure, and the mere thought of it made him eager to go.

But he remembered the warning. It was most remarkable that the
invitation to the theatre had followed so closely after the receipt of
the note from the unknown.

"Of course you'll go, old fellow?" cried Creighton, who saw that
Merriwell was hesitating.

"Of course he will!" cried Rattleton. "Merry is always in for a little
racket of this sort."

"He is always foremost in anything of the kind," said Diamond.

"That is why I want him in my box," smiled Creighton. "Oh, we won't do a
thing in that box--not a thing! I have ordered plenty of fizz on ice,
and--