CHAPTER VIII.

A FIGHT WITH A MANIAC.

Frank had been unable to find either Hodge or Elsie for some time. He wondered what had become of them, and the fancy came to him that perhaps Bart had met her and was improving the opportunity to unbosom himself.

“I hope he has,” thought Merry; “and I hope she accepts him. He is a truly splendid fellow! Not many chaps would have made the confession he did to me yesterday.”

At last Frank left the house and started alone for a stroll about the grounds. He was weary of being lionized, and he wished to get away by himself. At the farther extremity of the grounds, he paused, hearing some one running swiftly toward him, panting and sobbing as she came, for the sound was like that of a woman.

This person ran almost into Frank’s arms. She saw him, caught her foot, and nearly fell. His strong arm kept her from going down.

“Help!” she gasped, in the greatest terror, clasping his arm. “Bring somebody to help him!”

“Elsie!” he exclaimed. “What has happened? Tell me everything! Tell me quick!”

“Oh, Frank!” she gasped, being almost too exhausted to speak. “Bart--he----”

“What has happened to Bart?”

“He told me--all about Doctor Lincoln. And then--while we were talking--the doctor came right upon us. He seized Bart, and they had a terrible struggle. I tried to help Bart, but he thrust me off. Then I saw him strike Bart with something, and Bart fell. He has--carried him off--into the grove!”

Now Frank was stirred.

“Where did this happen, Elsie? Tell me if you cannot show me! I must do what I can to save him.”

She had confidence in Frank; she believed Frank could save him. Her strength seemed to come back, and she started away, crying:

“Follow me; I’ll show you!”

She ran again, and he followed her. At a distant part of the grounds, not far from the edge of the grove, she showed him the spot where the encounter had taken place.

“And he carried Bart off toward the grove?”

“Yes, yes!”

The grove looked dark and gloomy, but Merriwell bounded toward it at once. Hodge had told him of the lodge in the midst of that grove, and he felt that the maniac had carried Bart to that.

Frank was right. Having struck Hodge down with an instrument that rendered Bart helpless and unable to resist, the man caught him up in his powerful arms and rushed straight toward the lodge in the midst of the grove. Knowing every foot of the way, he bore the unfortunate college man straight there.

The door opened before the touch of the doctor, and he carried his intended victim into the hut. When they were inside, the doctor touched a button, and electric lights flashed up.

Hodge was conscious now, and he tried to make another struggle. The man caught him by the neck, and it seemed that those iron fingers would crush flesh, sinew, and bone. There was a frightful glare in the eyes of the mad doctor.

“I trusted you,” he said in a terrible voice, “and you betrayed my secret! For that you shall die!”

The struggle did not last long, and Bart was hurled into a big chair with arms. Then the doctor held him there, binding his limbs with cords and tying him fast.

Hodge felt like shrieking for help, but he knew that would be folly, and he made no cry. Instead, he tried to think of some method of appeasing the maniac.

“Haven’t you made a mistake, doctor?” he said in a voice that possessed all the calmness he could command.

“No!” roared the madman. “You know I have made no mistake! You are the traitor!”

“Did you hear correctly, doctor? I did not----”

“It will do you no good to lie! You have betrayed me, and you must die!”

“I was speaking to Miss Bellwood when you pounced upon me.”

“Yes; you had told her that I thought myself the strongest man in the world. Thought! Ha, ha, ha! Why, I know! You were like a child in my hands! Did you see how weak and helpless you were? Yet I’ll wager that you think you are strong. You thought you were strong when you fought with Skelding a while ago.”

“You know of that?”

“Oh, yes; I know of it. I have been watching you for a long time, as something told me you would betray me. You thought you were strong because you could conquer him. Bah! I could have stepped in and handled you both without an effort. I could have toyed with you. It would have given me pleasure to do so, but I did not care to betray my great strength to those others who were present. That was why I stood off and waited.”

So this maniac had been following him round all the evening? The thought was hardly agreeable.

“Something told me you would give away my secret,” went on the mad doctor, his eyes dancing. “That was why I clung so close to you. When I hear that voice whispering something in my ear, I know it speaks the truth. It whispered over and over: ‘He is a traitor! He is a traitor!’ But you lied to her!”

“How?”

“You told her that I am mad. Poor fool! Why should you think anything so ridiculous? You did it because you were jealous. I can read you. You did not wish the world to ever know that I am the strongest man alive. Why, you idiot! did you think they could take me and confine me in an asylum? Why, you must have known that I can bend and break the strongest iron bars! You must have known that I could pull the walls down. There are no walls strong enough to hold me.”

“I think you are right,” said Bart.

“I know I am!”

“Well, why don’t you proclaim your wonderful strength to the world?”

“The time has not come.”

“This is a good time to do it. Why wait so long? To-morrow you can astonish the whole world.”

The doctor shook his head.

“I am not quite ready.”

“But your enemies--you wish to obliterate them, and I am to help you. I will get them together to-morrow, and you may topple those heavy buildings upon them.”

“You can’t fool me!” laughed the maniac, with a cunning leer. “I know your game!”

“You proposed it yourself. You suggested that I was to help you.”

“But then I thought you all right. Now I know you are a traitor. You would not help me.”

“If I promise----”

“I will accept no promise from you. A man who has been false once will be false again. You must die!”

Bart began to realize that he could not deceive the maniac in such a manner; but he was thinking that Elsie had rushed away for aid, and this talk might give her time to bring help. So Bart went on talking. After a time, however, the doctor seemed to suspect his purpose.

“It’s no use,” he grinned, as he went to a closet in the wall, from which he took a long black knife. “I know what you are trying to do, but there is no hope for you. They will not come to your aid. And even if they did, what could they all do against me? Why, I could handle them like a giant among children.”

He was feeling of the edge of the knife with his thumb.

“It is sharp,” he nodded. “One slash of this will do the work, and I shall be stronger when it is over, for all your strength will go into my body.”

“Is that how you won your strength?” asked Bart, still hoping help might appear.

“I’ll not tell you! You have betrayed me, and I’ll tell you no more. Your time has come! I am going to make quick work of you. I’ll not torture you. One strong, swift stroke, and the knife will finish you. Brace up, now. You’re white. Show that you are not a coward.”

Bart fancied the door behind the doctor’s back moved slightly. He fancied it was swinging open.

The maniac bent over Bart and lifted the knife.

Then the door swung back noiselessly, and Frank Merriwell came into the room, leaping on the back of the mad doctor, whose wrist he grasped.

Then began one of the most terrible struggles Hodge had ever witnessed. And Bart was helpless to render Frank the least assistance. He could only look on and pray that Merry might conquer this terrible maniac.

Frank knew that it was a life-and-death struggle, and he exerted his wonderful powers as he had never before done. The doctor uttered a roar of rage, and tried to fling the youth off.

“Look out for him, Merry!” panted Bart. “Look out for that knife!”

Frank was taking care that the man did not get his knife-hand free. He had jerked the doctor’s hand back and given it an upward twist behind his back, hoping to force him to release his hold on the knife; but the man continued to clutch it for a time.

Higher and higher Frank twisted that arm, on which the muscles stood out in great ridges. At last the fingers relaxed, and the knife slipped to the floor with a clang.

Bart gave a sigh of relief and hope. But having released the knife, the mad doctor wrenched about and fastened his hands on Frank.

The strength of the maniac was appalling, but against it was pitted the strength and skill of the cleverest athlete Yale had ever known.

Frank succeeded in tripping the man, but the wall kept the doctor from going down. The lodge shook and rocked beneath their fearful struggles. The fact that he could not handle Merry at once made the maniac madly furious.

“You fool!” he roared. “Do you think to pit your puny strength against mine? Why, I am the strongest man in the world, and I can crush you!”

“Strong!” retorted Frank, with an expression of contempt. “Why, you are weak as a child! You could not handle a healthy boy of ten!”

“What?” snarled the doctor, in amazement. “You know better than that!”

“I am fooling with you now to show you how weak you really are,” Frank declared. “I can handle you any time.”

“It’s a lie!” shrieked the doctor, redoubling his efforts. “I’ll break every bone in your body!”

Then he did his utmost, and a gasp of horror came from the lips of Bart, for he saw Merry gradually forced to his knees, despite his efforts to prevent.

Hodge knew Frank had sought to shake the maniac’s confidence in his own strength by his words, and now Bart broke into taunting laughter.

“That’s it, Merriwell!” he cried, as if delighted. “You can fool him with that trick! He thinks he is getting the best of you, but----”

Frank had given a sudden, great twist, and the doctor was flung heavily to the floor. Frank was on top.

The shock was a great surprise to the madman, but he did not give up. He had fancied he was getting the best of his antagonist, only to find himself thrown with a wrestler’s trick.

Here and there over the floor they writhed and squirmed. With his powerful body, the doctor would lift Merry more than a foot, but Frank always drove him back to the floor with a shock that made the lodge quiver.

How Bart longed to break free and take a hand! Together they could have conquered the man. But though he writhed and twisted and strained, the cords held him fast.

Where was Elsie?

Frank had run on before her, and she was lost somewhere in the grove, wandering about in search of the lodge. Had she been there, she might have rendered assistance just then.

There was a sudden flop, a turn. It seemed that the man had Frank foul at last. He laughed harshly, and Hodge held his breath.

But Merry rose to one knee, got his feet beneath him, struggled up despite all attempts to hold him down, and again they both were on their feet.

“Great work!” exclaimed Bart, in delight. “Now give him the cross-buttock, Merry!”

Frank did it at the very instant that Bart spoke, but he got his body far under that of the doctor, whom he flung fairly over his head. Down came the man with a terrible crash, his head striking the floor hard.

Merry was on him.

“The strongest man in the world!” laughed Bart. “Why, he is a kid in your hands, Merriwell!”

“I told him so,” said Frank. “He must be an invalid, or he could do better than this.”

A groan of disappointment escaped the lips of the doctor, for at last he realized that this youth had conquered him; and then, as Frank had hoped, with this realization all the remarkable strength seemed to go out of the man, leaving him helpless in Merriwell’s grasp.

At that moment Elsie appeared at the door and looked in, having found the lodge at last.

“Just in time!” cried Bart. “Quick, Elsie! take that knife and cut these cords!”

She staggered a little, but she caught up the knife and obeyed, setting Hodge free.

“Let me help you, Merry!” panted Bart, as with some of the cords he bent over the conquered maniac. “We’ll soon have him tied up in fancy style. Old man, you put up a dandy fight!”

So they swiftly bound Doctor Lincoln, taking pains to tie him fast. Frank drew a deep breath when the job was done.

“Well,” he said, “of all the men I ever tackled, he is the most remarkable. At times he seemed to have the strength of two men, and I did fear that he would get the best of me.”

A strange look came to the face of the doctor.

“Then you lied when you called me weak!” he cried, frothing at the mouth. “It was a trick! You did it to deceive me!”

“That is true,” nodded Frank. “It was necessary to do something.”

Bart was supporting Elsie.

“Come!” she whispered; “let’s go away. I can’t stay here! The sight of him terrifies me!”

Hodge supported her from the lodge, saying:

“Come on, Merriwell. He’s secure, and we can leave him till we can send somebody to take care of him.”

Frank lingered a little, to make sure the mad doctor’s bond’s were secure.

“Oh, Bart!” Elsie breathed, when they were alone outside; “I have suffered such terror, for I thought he would kill you! Had he done so, it would have killed me also!”

“Elsie--Elsie, my sweetheart! Then you do love me? Tell me that you love me!”

“Bart, I love you--I love you!”

And so Bart found his happiness as he had wished, without disclosing to Elsie the fact that Frank Merriwell and Inza were engaged.