"Well, that's a pretty nervy piece of business!"
It was Frank Merriwell who spoke the words, more to himself than to any one else.
Frank was westbound, from Oklahoma City at the time, continuing the extensive tour mapped out after his Uncle Asher had died and left him so much money.
As readers of former books in this series know, Frank was not making the tour alone. Professor Scotch, his guardian, was with him as was also Barney Mulloy, his old schoolmate from Fardale. But, as the professor and Barney had not wanted to stop at Oklahoma, they had gone on ahead, leaving Frank to catch up with them later.
The "nervy piece of business" to which Frank referred was the following account of a hold-up published in a leading Oklahoma newspaper: