"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Havener, and that laugh turned the cowering actor's blood to ice water. "I kept my word to Frank Merriwell. I did not search for you. I found you here by accident. I said I would shoot you on sight if I found you like this!"
"But you were joking! You——"
"Joking!" roared Havener, furiously. "Joking about that? No! I was in deadly earnest! Arthur Sargent, get ready for eternity!"
His hand went back to his hip pocket, and out flashed a revolver.
With a scream of terror, the imperiled actor dropped on his knees, clasping his hands and crying:
"Don't do it, Havener—please don't shoot! I didn't mean to! I can't die! I'm not fit to die! Oh, please, please, please!"
"My ears are deaf," declared the man with the revolver. "Say your prayers!"
"Mercy!"
"Say your prayers!"
There was no sign of relenting in Havener's face.