The words had barely escaped Howard’s lips when Ray leaped forward and seized him by the throat. CHAPTER VII OPEN ENEMIES The onslaught was so sudden that Howard was almost taken off his feet. He was dashed back against the wall and shaken until he was nearly breathless. When he was almost strangling, Ray loosened his grip somewhat, but still held him firmly by the throat, pressing him against the wall. “There, you cowardly sneak,” he said, “don’t try to bully me any longer. Now after this leave my mail alone.” With these words Ray released him. Howard, who was thoroughly frightened, sank almost to his knees, and crouched there for several seconds, breathing heavily. Then, as his breath gradually returned to him, he recovered himself, straightened up, and smoothed out his rumpled collar, while his face took on an evil expression. “All right, Ray Wendell,” he said, panting. “We understand each other. I’ll be even with you fifty times over for this――――” “I don’t care what you do,” retorted Ray, interrupting him. “Haven’t you already gone far enough, Howard?” said I. “Can’t you see that every word you say only makes matters worse? What do you suppose the fellows will say when they hear of this?” Howard paused a moment. The humiliating results of such an exposure dawned upon him. He struggled to master himself, and finally said in an altered tone: “I didn’t intend to steal the letter. I didn’t notice it was Wendell’s till Ridley had gone away. I didn’t open it. I saw it was from the baseball League, so I tossed it on the box behind the door where Wendell usually puts his books.” On hearing this I immediately looked behind the door, but found nothing. If the letter had been thrown there it had been swept away during the week. “It is of little importance whether you opened it or not,” said Ray coldly. “The result is just the same in either case. You knew the contents, and you purposely prevented my getting it.” Howard was about to say something more, but suddenly concluded to accept my advice and keep silent. His lame explanation had not helped matters at all, so, turning hastily, he walked away into the darkness of the campus, while Ray and I started up stairs. “Well, if you ever had any doubts about your relations to Howard they should be removed now,” I said. “You have made an enemy of him for once and all.” “Nothing more than he has been in the past, I imagine,” answered Ray. “Only he is open about the matter now. And to think that all this started with a few games of tennis――at least I suppose so, for Howard was friendly enough to me previous to that.” We reached Ray’s door as his last words were spoken. This recalled to us the business we had in view for the evening, and Ray looked at his watch. “Why doesn’t Tony turn up?” he asked.