A FEARFUL FATE.
"Got him!" grated the triumphant young rascal, flourishing the revolver. "That's the time I fixed him!"
The mysterious light vanished in the twinkling of an eye, but it had shone long enough for Gage to do his dastardly work.
The sailors were alarmed by the light, and wished to row away; but Gage raved at them, ordering them to pull down toward the spot where the other boat lay.
After a time, the men recovered enough to do as directed, and the smaller boat was soon found, rocking lightly on the surface.
Running alongside, Gage reached over into the small boat, and his hand found the boy who was stretched in the bottom.
"Here he is!" cried the young rascal, gleefully. "I'll bet anything I put the bullet straight through his heart!"
And then, as if his own words had brought a sense of it all to him, he suddenly shuddered with horror, faintly muttering:
"That was murder!"
The horror grew upon him rapidly, and he began to wonder that he had felt delight when he saw Frank Merriwell fall. The shooting had been the impulse of the moment, and, now that it was done and he realized what it meant, he would have given much to recall that bullet.