The three wended their way homeward in a different frame of mind. Steve was so light of heart that he chuckled to himself and his dog, and swung his arms furiously. Marmaduke was uneasy about his lessons for the next day; George was glum and miserable, full of bitterness against necromancers, sprites, and Crazy Toms.
“I’ll never meddle with nonsense again,” he muttered, as he jogged on. “And as for Captain Kidd——”
From that day, he had another name—the Necromancer. It was not much used, however.
Chapter XXV.
The Bitten Boy Takes Revenge.
After that, George renounced all literature that treated of the magical arts, but his reading was as varied and extensive as ever. He carefully avoided the subject of necromancy, but when his companions referred to it, he put up with their jokes and cruel remarks about “iron-bound” “treasure-chests” with the calm indifference of a true philosopher.
Charles was mistaken in saying that he would be the only one to see any amusement in the affair after it was all over, for Stephen never tired of calling up George’s look of misery when the box was opened.
“Oh, if you and Will had only waited!” he often sighed to Charles.
Stephen almost forgot the insults heaped on himself and his dog during the earlier part of the evening, and as Bob Herriman prudently kept out of his sight for a few days, he almost forgave that wretch his wickedness.