goose-egg!"

Badger's dark, heavy face was flushed as he advanced again into
position. He felt, like Hodge, that Merriwell had purposely missed that
second bird, and it annoyed and angered him. This was the worst possible
thing that could have happened to him, for when he fired he again missed
a bird.

"Don't imitate him again!" Hodge implored.

And Merriwell did not. He made a clean kill of both birds.

"Only two more birds apiece, and Merry one ahead!" squealed Bink, vainly
tiptoeing to see as well as those who were taller.

"You want to see Merry do him up?" said Bruce. "You little runt, I'll
take pity on you!"

"Me, too!" squeaked Danny.

With little apparent exertion of strength, Browning hoisted the little
fellows to his shoulders, thus elevating them above the heads of others,
where they sat in great glee, squealing and laughing, Danny on the young
giant's right shoulder and Bink on his left, as Badger walked out to
shoot at his last two birds.

Again the Westerner killed his birds.

"Now, if Merry misses one, it will be another tie!" grunted Bart.

"Stop hawking through your tat--I mean----Oh, I don't know what I mean!
But just keep still!" Rattleton almost breathlessly begged. "Merry is
all right!"

And Rattleton's confidence was justified. Merry fired, with the same
result.

"Pulverized 'em!" howled Bink.

"Smashed 'em into bug-dust!" squealed Danny.

"Bub-bub-beat Badger again!" sputtered Gamp.

A cheer of gratification went up from the circle of Frank's friends.
Merriwell motioned to Rattleton to bring him some shells.

"Bring me Danny's gun, too!" he called; and Harry ran out to him with a
box of shells that he knew were reliable and with Griswold's repeating
shotgun.

"All three traps at once!" said Merriwell to the trap manipulators.

Three birds flew at the same moment of time.

Bang! bang! bang!

Badger in his best shooting at two birds had never made cleaner kills.
The clay birds seemed to vanish in puffs of dust at the crack of the
gun. Merriwell put down Danny's repeater, and took up Bart's gun.

"Three birds again!" he commanded, as he dropped in the two shells and
closed the breech with a click.

Almost before the words were out of his mouth, the birds were thrown.

Bang! bang! bang!

He killed the left and center birds with the two loads in the gun; then
reloaded and killed the third bird before it could touch the ground!

Badger's face grew redder. There was a wi