his breath, if one came near enough to him, was redolent of the fumes of
alcohol. With him was James Carson, one of the poorest scholars and most
unprincipled boys in the academy. It was rather surprising that he had
managed for so long to retain his position in the institution, but he
was crafty and took good care not to be caught.

To go back a little, it was chiefly owing to James Carson's influence
that Mark had entered the saloon.

When he learned that Mark's worldly prospects had improved, and that he
had a large supply of pocket money, he determined to cultivate his
acquaintance--though privately he thought Mark a disagreeable boy--with
the intention of obtaining for himself a portion of Mark's surplus
means.

At the first of the term he had made similar advances to Frank, but they
were coldly received, so much so that he did not think it worth while to
persevere in courting our hero's intimacy.

He succeeded better with Mark, his crafty nature teaching him how to
approach him.

"Mark," he said, with a great show of cordiality, "I am delighted to
hear of your good fortune. I always liked you, and I think you deserve
to be rich."

"Thank you!" said Mark, much gratified, for he liked flattery. "I am
sure I am very much obliged to you."

"Oh, not at all! I only say what I think. Shall I tell you why I am
particularly glad?"

"Yes, if you like," returned Mark, in some curiosity.

"Because I like you better than that young muff, your stepbrother. I
hope you won't be offended at my plain speaking," he added, artfully.

"Certainly not!" said Mark.

"I suppose," said James, "you will see a little life now that you are
your own master and have plenty of money."

"I don't know exactly what you mean, James. There isn't much life to be
seen in Bridgeville."

"That is true; but still there is some. Suppose now"--by this time they
were in front of the saloon, which, besides a bar, contained a billiard
and pool table--"suppose now we go in and have a game of billiards."

"It's against the rules, isn't it?" asked Mark.

"What do you care for the rules?" said James, contemptuously.

"If the old man hears of it, we shall get into hot water."

By the "old man" Mark meant the Rev. Dr. Brush, the venerable and
respected principal of the Bridgeville Academy, but such boys as he have
very little respect for the constituted authorities.

"Why need he know it? We will slip in when no one is looking. Did you
ever play a game of billiards?"

"I never played over half a dozen games in my life."

"Yon ought to know how to play. It is a splendid game. Come in."

Mark did not make very strong opposition, and the two boys, first
looking cautiously in different directions, entered the saloon.

Toward the entrance was a bar, and in the roar of the saloon were two
tables.

"Won't you have a drink, Mark?" asked James.

Mark hesitated.

"Oh, come now, it won't hurt. Two glasses of whisky, John."

"All right, Mr. Carson," said the barkeeper, to whom James was well
known.

James tossed off his glass with the air of an old drinker, but Mark
drank his more slowly.

"There, I know you feel better, Mark."

"Now, John, give me the balls. We'll play a game of billiards."

"All right, sir."

"I'll discount you, Mark," said James, "to give you a fair chance. It is
about the same thing as giving you half the game. Or, if you like, I
will give you seventeen points to start with, and then you will only
have seventeen to make, while I am making thirty-four."

"I like that best."

"Now shall we play for the drinks?"

"We have just had a drink?"

"We'll have another."

"Won't that be too much? I don't want to get drunk."

"Two drinks won't do you any harm. Very well. Now let us string for the
lead."

There is no need of describing the game in detail. Mark was only a
novice, while James could really make three or four points to his one.
He restrained himself, however, so that he only beat Mark by two points.

"You did splendidly, Mark," he said. "Considering how little you have
played, you did remarkably well. Why, you made a run of three."

"Yes, I did pretty well," said Mark, flattered by his companion's
praises.

"I had hard work to beat you, I can tell you that. As it was, you came
within two points of beating. Don't you like the game?"

"Very much."

"I thought you would. Shall we have another game?"

"I don't mind," answered Mark.

He knew that he ought to be in his room writing a composition to be
delivered the next day, but such obligations sat easily upon Mark, and
he did not hesitate long.

That time James allowed him to score sixteen, so that Mark was only
beaten by one point.

"You see, you are improving," said James. "I played a better game that
time than before, and still you came within one of beating me."

"I think I shall become a good player in time," said Mark, complacently.

"Yes, and in a very short time. Now," said James, "I have a proposal to
make to you."

"What is it?"

"We'll bet twenty-five cents on the next game, to give a little interest
to it."

Mark had no special scruples against betting, which is only one form of
gambling, but he decidedly objected to losing money, so he answered,
cautiously:

"I don't know about that. You beat me both of the other games."

"That's true; but you play better now than you did at first."

"That may be so."

"What are twenty-five cents, anyway? I expect to lose it, but it will
increase the interest of the game."

So Mark was persuaded, and the game was played.

James Carson managed to let Mark beat him by five shots, and the latter
was correspondingly elated.

"You beat me after all," said James, pretending to be much disappointed,
"and by five points. I'll tell you what I'll do--I'll give you the same
odds, and bet a dollar on the game. I suppose it's foolish, but I'll
risk it!"

"Done!" said Mark, eagerly.

His cupidity was excited, and he felt sure of winning the dollar, as he
had the twenty-five cents. But James had no idea of playing off now, and
he played a better game, as he was well able to do. The result was that
Mark was beaten by three points.

He looked quite crestfallen.

"I had better shows than you," said James. "I couldn't do it once in
five times. Will you play again?"

Mark agreed to it with some hesitation, and he was again beaten.

"You had luck against you. Another day you will succeed better. Have you
played enough?"

"Yes," answered Mark, annoyed.

He had four games to pay for and two dollars in bets, and it made rather
an expensive afternoon.

"Have another drink? I'll treat," said James, who could afford to be
liberal.

Mark accepted, and then, flushed and excited, he left the saloon, just
as Frank came up, as described in the first part of the chapter. On the
whole, he was sorry to meet his stepbrother just at this time.

Frank stopped, and his attention was drawn to Mark's flushed face.




CHAPTER XI

MARK GETS INTO TROUBLE


Mark nodded slightly and was about to pass without a word, when Frank
said, quietly:

"I am sorry to see you coming out of such a place, Mark."

"What is it to you, anyway?" returned Mark, rudely.

"Not much, perhaps," replied Frank, calmly, "but I don't like to see my
acquaintances coming out of a liquor saloon."

"It won't hurt you," said Mark, irritably.

"No, it won't hurt me, but if tho principal should hear of it, it would
not be pleasant for you. You know students are strictly forbidden to
enter any saloon?"

"I suppose you mean to tell on me," said Mark, hastily, and not
altogether without uneasiness.

"You are mistaken. I am not a talebearer."

"Then there is no need to say any more about it. Come along, James!"

Frank's interference was well meant, but, as we shall see, it did harm
rather than good.

As Mark left the saloon, he had half decided not to enter it again. He
was three dollars out of pocket, and this did not suit him at all.

In fact, Mark was rather a mean boy, and it was with considerable
reluctance that he had handed over to his companion the two dollars with
which to pay for the games.

Moreover, he was mortified at losing the two games of billiards, when so
great odds had been given him.

James Carson was no scholar, but he was sharp enough to perceive the
state of Mark's feelings, and he also saw how he was affected by Frank's
remonstrance.

He decided to take advantage of this, and strengthen his hold on Mark.

"Well, Mark," he said, "I suppose you'll give up playing billiards now."

"Why should I?"

"Because your stepbrother doesn't approve of it. You won't dare to go
into the saloon after he has forbidden you," he continued, with a sneer.

"What do you mean, James? Do you suppose I care that"--snapping his
fingers--"for what Frank says, or even thinks, either?"

"I didn't know but you might stand in fear of him."

"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Mark, hotly.

"Insult you! My dear friend, what can you be thinking of? Why, I like
you ten times as much as that muff, Frank Courtney."

"Then what did you mean by what you said?" asked Mark, more calmly.

"I will tell you. I got an idea, from what Frank said once, that he was
in charge of you--well, not exactly that, but he looked after you."

This was a wicked falsehood, as Frank had never intimated any such
thing. In fact, he had generally kept quite aloof from James.

Mark, however, fell into the trail, and never thought of doubting what
his companion said.

"If Frank said that, I've a great mind to whip him," said Mark, angrily.

"Oh, I wouldn't notice him, if I were you!" said James. "For my part, I
didn't believe what he said. I felt sure that a fine, spirited boy like
you wouldn't submit to his dictation."

"I should say not--the impudent follow!"

"When he spoke to you just now," continued James, "one would really have
thought he was your uncle, or guardian, and that you were a little boy."

"I'll show him what I think of him and his advice. I hadn't thought of
going to the saloon to-morrow, but now I will."

"Bravo! I like your spirit!" said James, admiringly. "It is just the way
to treat him. Shall I come round with you about the same hour as
to-day?"

"Yes, I wish you would."

When the two boys parted company, James Carson smiled to himself.

"What a fool Mark is!" he thought. "He thinks he is his own master, but
I am going to twist him round my little finger. He's a sweet youth, but
he's got money, and I mean to have some of it. Why, he tells me his
father allows him eight dollars a week for spending money. If I manage
well, I can get more than half away from his in bets."

The next day James called for Mark, as agreed upon, and again the two
boys went to the billiard saloon. The performance of the day before was
repeated.

James Carson, while flattering Mark's poor play, managed to beat in
every game but one on which money was staked, and came out the richer by
a dollar and a half.

"I am very unlucky," grumbled Mark, in a tone of dissatisfaction.

"So you were, Mark," admitted his sympathizing friend. "You made some
capital shots, though, and if I hadn't been so lucky, you would have
come out the victor in every game."

"But I didn't."

"No, you didn't; but you can't have such beastly luck all the time."

"I guess I'd better give up billiards. In two days I have spent five
dollars. It doesn't pay."

"No doubt Frank will be gratified when he hears that you have given up
playing. He will think it is because you are afraid of him."

James had touched the right chord, and poor Mark was once more in his
toils.

"It's lucky for me that Frank spoke to him," thought James. "It makes it
much easier for me to manage him."

One thing, however, James had not taken into account. There were others
besides Frank who were liable to interfere with his management, and who
had the authority to make their interference effectual.

On the day succeeding, as James and Mark were in the campus, Herbert
Grant approached them.

Now Herbert was the janitor of the academy. He also was employed by the
principal to summon students who had incurred censure to his study,
where they received a suitable reprimand.

It was not a pleasant duty, but some one must do it, and Herbert always
discharged it in a gentlemanly manner, which could not, or ought not, to
offend the schoolfellows who were unlucky enough to receive a summons.

"Boys," said he, "I am sorry to be the bearer of unpleasant news, but
Dr. Brush would like to see you in his study."

"Both of us?" asked James.

"Yes."

"Are there any others summoned?"

"No."

Mark and his companion looked at each other with perturbed glances. No
one cared to visit the principal on such an errand. Corporal punishment
was never resorted to in the Bridgeville Academy, but the doctor's
dignified rebuke was dreaded more than blows would have been from some
men.

"What do you think it is, James?" asked Mark, uneasily.

"I think it's the saloon," answered James, in a low voice.

"But how could he have found it out? No one saw us go in or come out."

The billiard saloon was at some distance from the academy building, and
for that reason the two boys had felt more secure in visiting it.

"I'll tell you how it came out," said James, suddenly.

"How?" asked Mark.

"You remember Frank saw us coming out day before yesterday."

"He said he wouldn't tell."

It was not very difficult for Mark to believe anything against Frank,
and he instantly adopted his companion's idea.

"The mean sneak!" he said. "I'll come up with him! I'll tell my father
not to give him any money for the next month. I'll---I'll get him to
apprentice Frank to a shoemaker! Perhaps then he won't put on so many
airs."

"Good for you! I admire your pluck!" said James, slapping Mark on the
back. "You are true grit, you are! Just teach the fellow a lesson."

"See if I don't!"

Mark nodded his head resolutely, and went into the presence of Dr.
Brush, thirsting for vengeance against his stepbrother, who, he felt
persuaded, had informed against him.

If Frank had known his suspicions he would have been very much
surprised. As it happened, however, he did not even know that his
stepbrother had been summoned to the doctor's study. Had he met Herbert,
the later would have told him; but after receiving his list, it so
chanced that he and his friend did not meet.

The fact was that a young man employed as tutor in mathematics in the
academy, while taking an afternoon walk, had seen Mark and James Carson
leaving the liquor saloon, and, as in duty bound, had reported the same
to the principal.

Mr. Triangle, however, had not been observed by either of the two boys,
and therefore they were led off on a false scent.

"What do you think the old man will say?" asked Mark, uneasily, as they
ascended the stairs to the principal's study.

"He'll give us a raking down, I suppose," said James. "He will come
down heavy on us."

"I wish I were out of it."

"Oh, it's not worth minding! We haven't committed murder, have we?
What's the harm in a game of billiards?"

"Not much, perhaps; but the drinking and betting are certainly
objectionable."

The boys knocked at the door, and the full, deep voice of Dr. Brush was
heard to say: "Come in!"




CHAPTER XII

SUSPENDED


Dr. Brush was seated at a table covered with papers, in a large
armchair. He was an elderly man of dignified presence, not a petty
tyrant such as is sometimes found in a similar position, but a man who
commanded respect, without an effort.

Mark Manning and James Carson entered his presence a little nervously.

"Young gentlemen," said the doctor, gravely, "I am informed that you
have violated one of the rules of the academy by frequenting a billiard
saloon where liquor is sold."

"Who told you, sir?" asked Mark.

"That is not to the purpose," said the principal, gravely.

"But I should like to know who informed on me," persisted Mark.

"Whoever did so acted as your true friend, Manning; but there is no
occasion for you to know who it was. Is it true?"

Mark would have been glad to deny the charge, and would not have felt
any scruples about doing so, if it would have done any good. But it was
clear, even to him, that he would not be believed, and that denial would
only make his position worse. So he made a virtue of necessity, and
answered:

"I have been in once or twice, sir."

"Exactly how many times have you been to the saloon?"

"Three times."

"What did you do there?'

"We played billiards."

"Did you order anything at the bar?"

"Yes, sir," said Mark, reluctantly.

"Carson, you accompanied Manning, did you not?" said Dr. Brush, turning
to Mark's companion.

"Yes, sir."

"And I suppose you also played billiards and drank?"

"Well, yes, sir, I believe I did."

"You were aware, were you not, that it was against the regulations of
the school?"

"I suppose it must have slipped my mind," answered James, trying to look
as innocent as possible.

Dr. Brush frowned, for he saw clearly that this was but a subterfuge.

"If this were true," he continued, "it would be no excuse. As students,
it is your duty to make yourselves acquainted with the rules that govern
the institution. In point of fact, I cannot believe that either of you
is ignorant of the rule forbidding students to frequent places where
liquor is sold. It is hardly necessary for me to defend the propriety of
this rule. Intemperance is a fruitful source of vice and crime, and I
cannot allow the youth under by charge to form habits of indulgence
which may blast all their prospects, and lead to the most ruinous
consequences."

"We didn't drink much," said Mark.

"I shall not inquire how much you drank. In drinking a single glass, you
violated the rule of the school, and I cannot pass over it."

"What is he going to do with us, I wonder?" thought Mark.

He was not required to wonder long.

"As this is your first offense, so far as I know," proceeded the
principal, "I will not be severe. You are both suspended from the
institution for the remainder of the term, and are required to leave
Bridgeville by the early train to-morrow morning for your respective
homes. I shall write to your parents, explaining the cause of your
suspension."

But a week remained of the term, and the punishment was mild, but both
boys were mortified and left the study crestfallen.

Mark was the first to recover his spirits.

"It is not so bad, James," he said. "To-morrow will be Saturday, and I
should go home, anyway. I don't mind staying at home next week."

"What will your father say?"

"Oh, I'll make it all right with him! I don't mind much what he says. I
guess he got into scrapes himself when he was a boy."

"My father isn't so easily managed. Just as likely as not, he'll cut off
my allowance for a month; and that'll be no joke!"

"My father won't do that," said Mark. "If he did, I would raise a fuss."

"Would that do any good?"

"I'll bet it would!"

Frank, who was quite ignorant of Mark's trouble, was surprised when the
latter approached him a little later with a frown and said, harshly:

"You won't make anything by what you have done, Frank Courtney!"

"Will you be kind enough to tell me what I have done?" asked Frank,
calmly.

"You've been to Dr. Brush and told him about our playing billiards."

"You are entirely mistaken, Mark. I did not suppose he knew."

"It must have been you. He told us some one had informed him, and you
were the only one who knew. It's a mean trick, isn't it, Carson?"

"Awfully mean!"

"I have already told you that the information did not come from me. It
may be the best thing for you that it has been found out, for it was
doing you no good to frequent such places."

"I don't want to hear any of your preaching, Frank Courtney. I guess I
can manage my own affairs without any advice from you."

"I don't care to intrude any advice," said Frank. "I have not much
reason to feel interested in you."

"You'd better look out how you treat me, though," said Mark, insolently.
"I know very well you dislike me, but it won't be safe for you to show
it while you are a dependent on my father."

"I don't propose to be a dependent on him long," said Frank, quietly.
"The truth of it is, you and your father are dependent upon property
which of right belongs to me. The time may come when I shall be able to
show this."

"What does he mean?" thought Mark, uneasily. "Will he contest the
will?"

It was perhaps an evidence of Mark's shrewdness that he had some doubts
about the validity of the will under which his father inherited.