"I will think over this," Lee promised. "As you say, I have no desire to
be unjust; still less do I wish to be harsh beyond what is necessary. I
once thought well of Badger. I can't say more now. His actions have
seemed to me very low and very dishonorable."
The long interview ended with this. But Merriwell, not realizing that
Badger was still waiting for him in wild anxiety, made a call on Inza
and Elsie, which was so pleasant that it was much more protracted than
he had intended it should be, and the hour grew late.
In the meantime, other things were hurrying events to a climax. Fairfax
Lee had hastened home that night in fear of his life. Bill Gaston, once
a useful political worker, who had been driven insane by his failure to
secure an appointment he craved, and who the day before had been locked
up for threatening Lee's life, had escaped and was at large. That the
man was crazy there could be no doubt, and that he would shoot Lee on
sight seemed just as certain.
Buck Badger, wandering like a restless spirit in the vicinity of the
house, saw a man leap the fence and sneak toward a rear entrance. The
man's general appearance and crouching attitude were like those of the
crazed office-seeker whom Buck had once seen threatening Lee in that
very place.
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