He had a way of turning every question off with another question, and it was soon discovered that no information could be obtained from him.
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.