“Then——”
“Of shooting him!”
“Merriwell?”
“That’s it! that’s it! It’s the only way, I tell you! Don’t talk to me! I’ve figured it all out. When his eyes are closed they will trouble me no more. I’m going to close them forever!”
“He’s been drinking again to-night!” thought Gene. “He is full of the stuff, and it’s impossible to reason with him now. How can I handle him? I must find a way to do so without letting him know it.
“That is a desperate remedy, don’t you think?” he said aloud.
“Perhaps so, but it’s a desperate case. I can’t sleep nights, Skelding. The minute I put out my light and lie down I see those eyes watching me. Even though I close my own eyes tightly I see them just the same. Skelding, the only thing that can save me from the madhouse is the death of Merriwell! I’ve thought it all out, and I have arrived at that conviction.”
“And you bought a revolver for that purpose?”
“Oh, no! I bought that to use at the political celebration last fall. Bought a box of blanks to go with it, but I did not fire them all. There are some of them in that box there. I bought the other box to-day.”
“The others are not blanks.”