“Forget it. That kind of talk makes me sick. A fellow ought to be man enough to stand on his own feet.”
“You know I’m a coward. I rolled that rock off Apache Point, and I hoped it would ‘get’ you—providing I could skip out and you’d never know who it was loosened the bowlder.”
In spite of himself, Merry felt his whole nature shrink from the fellow who was admitting such an act of treachery. By an effort, however, he succeeded in getting the whip hand of his feelings.
“Then,” proceeded Lenning, “when Shoup knocked me on the head with that paddle and you pulled me out on dry land and kept me from drowning, I felt like a hound. That’s why I tried to square things by giving up that money.”
“I thought you did that because Shoup had stolen it.”
“I reckon I talked that way, but it wasn’t the truth. I took the money from Shoup and thought I’d get away with it. When you and Clancy saved me, and when I knew that I was done with Shoup, I began thinking about a job at the Ophir mine. I wondered if I could be different—if I could get the respect of people, same as you have done—and I thought maybe I’d try it. The super wouldn’t have me, so I went to the general manager. He wouldn’t have me, either, until you had asked him to give me a chance.”
Lenning swallowed hard and his voice shook as he went on:
“What you’ve done to-day, Merriwell, has done more to make me see what an infernal cur I’ve been, and to want to be different, than anything else that ever happened to me. If I can keep that yellow streak from getting the upper hand, I’ll make good at the mine.”
“You’ve got to make good,” said Frank, “because I’ve become responsible for you. What became of Shoup?”
“He has left the country, I reckon. I haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon.” Lenning muttered a fierce exclamation. “I wish he’d hang around for a spell so I’d have a chance to get even with him.”