Still it was passed from lip to lip that the great and nighty king had been found by the rescuers, stripped to his underclothes, and tied to a stake, while the smoke arose thickly around him and nearly choked him.

Some one suggested that Browning’s complexion seemed to have changed in a remarkable manner, and then the students fell to asking him if he really enjoyed a smoke.

Browning seemed subdued; but those who knew him best were telling everybody to hold on and see what would happen.

“This is just the beginning,” they said.

However, several days passed and still nothing occurred.  It began to look as if the sophs had decided that they were outgeneraled and were willing to let the matter drop.

Frank Merriwell was not deceived.  He knew the sophs were keeping still in order to deceive the freshmen into a belief that there was no danger, and he continued to warn all his friends to “watch out.”

In the meantime Diamond had recovered and was in evidence among the freshmen.  It was said that he went down to Billy’s, a favorite freshman resort, and spent money liberally there almost every night.

The result of this soon became apparent.  Diamond was surrounded by a crowd of hangers-on who seemed to regard him as a leader.  He was working for popularity, and he was obtaining it in a certain way.

Now, Frank Merriwell was no less generous than Jack Diamond, but he would not drink liquor of any kind—­he would not touch beer.  It did not take him long to discover that this peculiarity caused many of the students to regard him with scorn.  He was called the Good Templar and was often derisively addressed as Worthy Chief.

The very ones who were first to apply the name in derision afterward came to call him Worthy Chief in sincere admiration.

Frank went around to Billy’s occasionally, and although he would not drink, he treated frequently, paying for anything his companions wanted to take, from beer to champagne.

One evening Frank, Harry and Dismal Jones went into Billy’s and found Diamond and a large crowd there.  Jack had been drinking something stronger than lemonade, and he was holding forth to a crowd of eager listeners.

One look at Diamond’s flushed face did Merriwell take, and then he knew the fellow was open for anything.  The high color in the cheeks of the Virginian was a danger signal.

Merriwell and his two friends ordered drinks, Frank taking ginger ale.  Harry and Jones lighted cigarettes.

Frank examined the pictures around the walls.  There were ballet dancers who were standing on one toe, famous trotters, painted pictures of celebrated fighting cocks, hunters in red coats leaping five-barred fences, and so forth.

As he looked over the pictures he became aware that Diamond was saying something that was intended for his ears.