lept in his bed last night, his ma says! Gone in
the queerest way ever, and just when Riverport depended on him to win
the prize to-morrow!" was what the almost breathless Corney gasped.

CHAPTER VII

WHERE IS COLON?

"Oh! what d'ye think of that, now?" cried Bristles.

"How could Colon ever do it; and all Riverport depending on him so?"
exclaimed the tall student, Henry Clifford by name, who was always
deeply interested in the field sports of his mates, though too delicate
himself to take any part in them.

"Why, what d'ye think he's done?" demanded Bristles, aggressively,
turning on him.

"Perhaps he just got so nervous over this business that he couldn't
stand the push, and thought he'd better skip out," replied the other,
weakly.

"Rats! tell that to your grandmother, will you, Clifford!" burst out
Semi-Colon, quick to rally to the defense of his cousin. "Nobody ever
knew him to flinch when it came to the test; ain't that so, fellers?"

"Sure it is," cried Bristles, sturdily; "and when I saw him last night
he was just feeling as if he had a walkover ahead. No, if Colon has
disappeared there's some other reason besides a sudden fear of being
beaten. He never went of his own account."

"Tell us some more about it, Corney," said Fred, himself considerably
shaken by the stunning news brought by the runner.

Corney had by now succeeded in regaining his breath.

"Well, he's gone, that's a dead sure thing," he began. "I went around to
his house to get him to come. Found several other fellows sitting there
on the bank outside the fence. They didn't have the nerve to go in and
ask for Colon, you see. But I walked up to the door, and knocked. Mrs.
Colon came out, and smiled to see the mob there, like she might be
feeling proud that her boy was so well thought of."

"Oh! cut it short!" growled Dick Hendricks. "Get down to facts. What did
she say?"

"That she was letting Chris sleep longer this morning, because he was
working so hard these days; but would go and wake him up. A minute later
I heard her call out, and then I ran in, fearing that something had
happened to our chum. She was there in his room, wringing her hands, and
carryin' on like everything. Then I saw that the bed hadn't been slept
in. Fellers, it gave me a cold creep, because you see, I just _knew_
something terrible must have happened to poor old Colon."

Fred tried to keep his head about him in this trying moment. He knew
that this p