They embraced each other fervently.
"Let us commend ourselves to God; He will not be hard upon us, if He is as good as the Chaplain says—He knows it all."
And they wound the rope around them, so as to bind both together.
"We shall not be able to change our minds, even if the water be cold, and drowning hard."
The younger shivered, but did not falter in his resolution. What mental suffering he must have gone through; for the young naturally cling to life.
But the dread secret was all too visible.
From the younger boy two fingers had fallen off—rotted away with the disease. The elder had a covering over the cheek, a patch, for the leprosy had eaten through it. There was none of the spring and gladness of childhood or youth in either; they carried the tokens of decay with them. They had the sentence of physical death in themselves.
Now they stood tottering on the brink. The wind sighed hoarsely around them; a raven gave an ominous croak-croak, and flew flapping in the air. One moment—and they leapt together.
There was a great splash.
Was all over?