“I know it’s useless to ask you to join me,” he said to Frank, but without permitting his eyes to meet the pair that were regarding him steadily with a gaze of mingled sorrow and reproach. “What has happened to my friends?” thought Frank. “Here’s Starbright following in Diamond’s footsteps. I caught Jack just in time to pull him up with a round turn, and now I’ve got another job on my hands.” With a pretense of defiant carelessness, the big Andover man lifted the glass. Frank’s hand fell on his arm. “Wait a minute, Dick,” he urged gently. “How many drinks have you taken before this?” “Not any,” was the answer that gave Merry a sensation of great relief, for he knew that one drink was enough to set the fire raging in Starbright’s veins and make him mad for more. “That being the case,” said Frank, in a quiet tone, “let’s talk this matter over a little before you take the first one.” “It’s no use, Merriwell,” asserted the big, blond freshman. “I know what you mean to say, but I’ve got to take this drink.” Now he gave Frank a defiant look, but his eyes drooped almost instantly. “You must be in a bad way if you feel like that,” said Merry, still in that calm, unagitated manner. “The devil is in me!” confessed Starbright. “He is calling for whisky, and I’m going to give him enough to drown him. Ha, ha, ha!” Merriwell did not remember ever having seen Dick in such a reckless and desperate mood. There was a wild light in the eyes of the freshman, and his air was that of one who cares not a snap what may happen, and would not turn one step out of his path to avoid meeting death itself. Frank knew there was a cause for all this. He knew something had brought Starbright down here to New York and thrown him into this exceedingly reckless mood, and he wished to discover without delay what that something could be. “It will take a lot of whisky to drown the devil,” said Frank. “I don’t think there is enough distilled in the world to accomplish that feat. Men have been trying to drown the old fellow in whisky ever since the secret of manufacturing the stuff was first learned, and he has thrived on it and grown stronger every year. In fact, the devil likes whisky just as a child likes milk. To tell the truth, I believe whisky was an invention of the devil, to begin with, and I know that more than anything else it has served him as a snare for the unwary feet of foolish human beings who fancy they can master it. But I’m not here to deliver a temperance lecture, Starbright. I happened to look into this place in search of Diamond, and I saw you. My boy, let me pay for that stuff, but do not drink it now. Come up to my room, and we’ll have a little talk. After that is over, if you are determined to drink, I’ll not oppose you.” But Dick shook his head.