One day he asked George if he might see the book of necromancy.
At first the Sage was inclined to be vexed at such a question; but finally, pointing upwards, he said, with a peculiar smile: “Well, Steve, I guess the smoke of it is up there. And now, don’t say any more about it, please.”
“George, that night we passed through an experience instead of an experiment;” Stephen replied solemnly, looking wondrous wise. “I promise not to bother you about it any more.”
Stephen kept his word religiously.
As for Will, strangely enough he took no cold, but was minus one suit of clothes.
Bob Herriman kept out of the boys sight for a few days. He had several very good reasons for doing so. In the first place, he was sore and stiff from many bruises; secondly, his cowardly nature dreaded meeting with the boys for whom he had lain in ambush, and whom he had exasperated beyond endurance; and thirdly, he wished to avoid Steve’s dog, which he now feared.
On account of this, the boy kept quiet near home, although his parents probably thought him at school. In these “holidays” he worked out a plan for revenge.
Revenge for what?
The only answer that can be given is that the boy was so vindictive in his nature that he wished to do the boys and the dog some injury—simply because he had fallen out of the evergreen; been humiliated, stunned, and hurt; had an unpleasant struggle in the water; and generally “got the worst of it,” as Charley put it.