ed face wrinkled into a
quaint grimace.

"What is it that you want to say about the mile race, Browning?" asked
Frank, his curiosity aroused.

"I want to say that I do not believe Yates is the proper man to
represent Old Eli."

"He is fast, and he has a record."

"It's no use to talk about his record."

"Why not?"

"Orton, of U. P., lays over him, and this will be a case of Yale against
the field. Better men than Orton may show up."

"Yates may break his own record."

"That word 'may' is all right, but it can be applied both ways. He may
not."

"There's Van Tassle," said Diamond. "He claims to be a record-breaker."

"A record-breaker!" sniffed Griswold. "Why, that fellow couldn't break
an egg!"

"That's right," nodded Rattleton. "He breaks records with his mouth.
Don't talk about him."

"Well, there are others," laughed Frank.

"Name a few of them," invited Browning, with more animation than he had
displayed for some time.

"There's Hickson."

"He's stiff in the joints, as you know."

"Walter Gordan."

"He's no stayer. That fellow can run, but he has not the sand to make
himself a winner."

"He thinks himself the biggest thing on ice," said Rattleton.

"By the way," broke in Griswold, "what is the biggest thing on ice?"

"The profit," promptly answered Stubbs, and then he made a scramble to
get out of Griswold's way.

"It's no use, I can't shine when that chap is around!" exclaimed Danny,
with attempted seriousness. "He has an answer for all my conundrums."

"That makes me think of one for you," piped Bink, who was now perched on
the back of a high chair, like a monkey. "Why is a duel a quick affair?"

"Answer it yourself. I'll never tell."

"Well, a duel is a quick affair because it takes only two seconds to
arrange it."

"There won't be a duel in this case," grunted Browning; "but there'll
be a cold-blooded murder if you kids keep on. I'll assassinate you
both!"

Frank laughed.

"Oh, let them go it, Bruce," he said. "It seems to amuse them, and it
doesn't harm anybody else."

"I think Browning is right about Yates," declared Diamond. "He is not
the proper man to represent Yale in that race."

"Whom would you suggest?" asked Frank.

"Frank Merriwell, by all means."

"Now that is folly!" said Merriwell, seriously.

"I fail to see why it is folly," cried Browning. "You are the man I have
had in my mind all along."

"But I have no record."

"To the winds with your records!