He had risen, and now he was pacing the floor again, his blue eyes flashing and his fair face pale with the emotion that possessed him.
“Are you daffy, Starbright?” exclaimed Merriwell, beginning to lose patience. “You have fancied there was a reason why you should not care for Inza; and now, when you find there is no such reason, you declare you will have nothing more to do with her.”
“But there is a reason, Merriwell! Don’t let’s talk of it. It makes my blood boil!”
Frank caught hold of his companion and brought him to a halt.
“Look here,” he said sternly; “you’ll have to talk of it, for I am going to know what you mean. I believe Inza thinks a great deal of you, and I do not believe you have a right to speak of her in such a manner.”
Merry was astounded when the big freshman whirled on him like a raging lion.
“You don’t know!” burst from Dick’s lips. “You have seen nothing but her fine qualities. You have not observed the other side of her character. She’s a flirt! She takes delight in deceiving men! I believe she has deceived you, just as she did me! Oh, yes! she’s handsome, but she’s fickle. I know what I’m talking about, Merriwell! Don’t try to stop me! I know you’ll say I’m crazy, but I’m not! I have seen something with my own eyes that settles everything between that girl and myself! I am done with her, Frank Merriwell—done with her forever!”
Then Frank gripped the gigantic Andover man, and, despite Starbright’s remarkable strength, quickly sat him down on a chair.
“See here!” exploded Frank, a look in his eyes that the other had never seen there before, “do you know, man, that you have stepped over the limit? How dare you talk to me in such a way of Inza Burrage? I have known her since she was a girl in short dresses, and she is as pure as the stars. Man, you cannot speak of her thus before me! You are my friend—at least, you have been. I will not listen to such words from the lips of anybody. She is not treacherous, and she does not take delight in deceiving men.”
Dick Starbright was appalled by the terrible earnestness of Frank Merriwell. He sat there, staring up at Merry in wonderment, while in his heart he was saying:
“You told me you did not care for her, but you love her—you love her! I see it now! You may not know it, Merriwell, but you love her!”