friends time and again. It is my time to strike
now, and I shall strike hard."

The dangerous smile which friends and enemies alike had come to know so
well rested on Merriwell's face. Agnew had seen it there before, and the
sight of it made him shiver.

"Badger used that shell--or one of the shells, and only chance saved him
from being killed or maimed for life. Not satisfied with that, you
struck at him to-day again."

"You're crazy, Merriwell! There is not a word of truth in any of these
things. You have fancied them all, and, because you do not like me, you
are determined to ruin me."

"You have ruined yourself, Agnew. I have given you chance after chance
to reform and change about. You get worse. You are a disgrace to
humanity, to say nothing of Yale College. You struck at Badger to-day,
as I said.

"I know all about it. Professor Barton fancies that he caught Badger
cribbing in to-day's examination. The matter has already gone to the
faculty. Badger will go out of Yale as sure as the sun rises if things
are permitted to go on. I propose to see that they do not go on. No
scoundrel like you, Agnew, shall treat a friend of mine in that way."

"So he has become your friend, has he?"

"No man shall treat one of my foes in that way, if I can help it!"

Agnew attempted a skeptical sneer, but it was a failure. He was shaking
like a chilled and nervous dog.

"I have had a talk with Badger. He couldn't understand how the papers
got into his pockets. But I knew as soon as he told me of your encounter
in that saloon last night, for I had seen the slips purporting to be in
his handwriting, and I knew they were forged, and I was sure you were
the forger!"

"Quite a Sherlock Holmes!" said Agnew. "This is a very interesting
little romance. The only trouble is that, like most romances, there
isn't a word of truth in it."

"You are the man who stole the printed question slips. You wanted them
for your own use, so that you might not fail in this examination. When
you knew what they were, and had prepared answers, you planned to use
them to throw Badger down, hoping that if the theft of the slips were
discovered the blow would fall on Badger."

"You're away off, Merriwell!"

But Frank went remorselessly on:

"Last night, in the saloon, during that fight, which was of your own
seeking, you contrived to put those forged answers, in imitation of
Badger's handwriting, into his pockets, where Professor Barton found
them