“Yes, I know,” nodded Dick. “He’s been troubled with hallucinations. Of course, you know about the running down of Buckhart’s boat in the harbor. At that time Lynch and his friends fancied I was drowned. Strangely enough, Mike was the one most affected by this belief. It seemed to upset him mentally, and no one could convince him that I was not dead. On other things he appeared rational enough, but he certainly was queer on that point. Whenever he met me he refused to look at me. They told me he invariably flew into a passion if any one spoke of my escape from drowning. After being hit by that baseball to-day Lynch seemed rational for the first time in many days. You know I did what I could to restore him to consciousness. When he came round he stated that he seemed to have dreamed that I was dead. I fancied the shock had knocked the delusion out of his head and restored him to his normal condition.”
“Well, I don’t know what sort of condition he was in,” said Bertie; “but I do know he was sneaking up behind you with this loaded pistol in his hand. You can imagine what he meant to do. I don’t like to think of it.”
“If he meant to shoot me,” muttered Dick, “the fellow was certainly crazy. There’s no other explanation. No chap in his right mind would attempt such a deed.”
“Probably he meant to plead brain storm as an excuse,” said Lee.
Dick shook his head decisively.
“I must refuse to believe that Lynch contemplated any such dastardly act. Perhaps there’s nothing but powder in this pistol. Perhaps he had some freakish scheme in his befogged mind. Lee, I’m going to find out whether there’s anything more than powder in this pistol. I haven’t anything to draw the charge, but there’s another way to settle the point. Come down into the back yard with me.”
They descended the stairs and passed through the kitchen into the back yard. Finding a heavy block of wood, Merriwell placed it close to the fence, retreated a few feet, and leveled the pistol at it. When he pulled the trigger there was an explosion like the report of a shotgun. Springing forward to the block of wood, Dick examined it.
“Great Scott!” he cried, his face paling. “Look here!”
His finger pointed to the spot where two bullets had entered the wood close to each other.
“I see it! I see it!” spluttered Lee. “That settles it! Now you know the old thing was loaded with something more than powder.”