doubt, but
that his arms were caught and held.

It was all over within less than two minutes. Some of the Westerner's
friends held him back and began to talk some sense into him, while
Pike's friends drew him out and away.

"I reckon this isn't the end of it!" snarled Badger, flinging the words
at Pike. "There will be a beautiful settlement of this, remember."

Then he hobbled blindly out of the crowd with some acquaintances, to
have his smarting eye attended to, while the procession reformed, and
the rollicking students began again to shout their "Omega Lambda Chi."

The "beautiful settlement" came at a late hour that night. Badger
encountered Pike while the latter was on his way to his room. The
Kansan's eye still pained him, and his rage was hot. As soon as he saw
Pike he stepped across the walk and took him by the nose.

"That's the way I treat such skunks as you!" he hissed, flinging Pike
from him after offering him that deadly insult. "I want to warn you to
keep out of my way after this. If you don't, I'll treat you just as I
would a rattler!"

"You mean you will kill me!" snarled Pike, rushing at the Kansan in a
fit of blind rage.

But he was no match for Badger, who flung him off with surprising ease,
and then held him at bay and at arm's length by a clutch on his throat.

"I've a notion to choke the breath out of you!" said Badger. "Don't
tempt me too far, or I might forget myself and do it. You know that I've
got a red-hot, cantankerous temper when I get started. Now go! Git! If
you don't, I'll lift you with my shoe. And keep out of my way, unless
you want trouble!"

He pushed Pike from him with stinging scorn.

"I'll go!" said Pike. "But I'll pay you for to-night's work! See if I
don't! You'll find out that there are more ways of fighting than with
fists. You may wish that you had killed me, before you get through with
it!"

"What does the scoundrel mean by that?" the Westerner questioned,
staring at Pike as the latter hurried away. "I reckon he is mean enough
to do anything. Well, he had better have a care!"

He was soon destined to feel the effects of Pike's threat in a manner
more crushing than any knock-down, physical blow which Pike could have
delivered.

CHAPTER XV.

PIKE AND BADGER.

The next evening, which was Tuesday evening, while the societies were
hilariously enjoying their annual calcium-light procession, Donald Pike
took a car and hastened to the home of the Honorabl