up a
cartridge. "Here is one of those that were fixed for me, anyway. And now
I know that Agnew did it, and that he intended to kill me!"

The other shells which Agnew had prepared were gone, having been
gathered up in the midst of the tumult and excitement and cleverly
slipped by Agnew into his pockets.

"Who fired that shot?" Merriwell asked.

"I don't know!"

Others were gathering round.

"He tried to kill me, Harry, and I shall strike back. And when I strike
I shall strike in a way to make the stroke felt!"

CHAPTER XI.

FRANK PREVENTS TROUBLE.

Badger's belief that Hodge had juggled the shell which exploded in the
gun was not very strong when he left the grounds of the gun club, but
his hatred of Hodge was not in any degree lessened thereby. Only by a
supreme exercise of will-power had he been able to keep himself from
rushing upon Bart when the latter made his bitter comments to Merry.

"Merriwell is all right, but Hodge isn't even a piece of a man!" he
growled, as he made his way home, his thoughts in a chaotic state. "I
shall have to punch his head for him. Merry wouldn't have beat me
shooting if I had taken my own gun along! I reckon I was a fool for
going into the thing. Hodge isn't any too good to slip that shell in on
Merry! And if he didn't do it, who did? And I'd like to know what was in
it? That's whatever!"

Bart's feelings against the Westerner were quite as bitter. He almost
hated the ground on which Badger's shadow fell. It seemed unlikely that
Frank could ever reconcile these two antagonistic characters.

Bart was sore also about the way Frank's friends were treating him. Nor
was the feeling lessened by his own inner conviction that he had dealt
rather shabbily with one who had been as true a friend to him as Merry
had been, and that the other members of the "flock" had good grounds for
looking on him with disfavor.

"I shall never crawl on my knees for the friendship and good-will of any
of them!" was his thought, as he turned a corner on his way to the
lighted campus, on the evening of the second day after the shooting.
"And as for Badger----"

He ran violently against a man and was hurled backward. The man was
Badger.

"What do you mean by that?" the Westerner demanded, for he, also, had
been almost knocked from his feet, and he, too, had been feeding his hot
anger with inflammatory thoughts against Bart. "You did that on
purpose!"

Hodge lunged at the Kansan's face.