“If you want to make a sure thing of it, take my advice and hit me over the head with an ax before putting me into the boat. If you do not, just as sure as fate, I’ll escape, and hunt you down!”
Despite the coolness with which the boy uttered those words, they caused Flynn to pale a bit.
“Anyone would think to hear you that you are a chap whose life is protected by a charm,” he sneered.
“I believe I have passed through too many dangers to have my life snuffed out down here in this part of the world, by such a miserable, worthless creature as you.”
“Be careful!” snarled Flynn, rising. “Better keep that tongue still.”
Frank laughed. It was the old reckless laugh that often came from his lips in times of danger. He did not quail in the least before the threatening man, and the scorn that blazed from his eyes was withering.
“My tongue is my own, and it gives me great satisfaction to be able to use it to tell you just what a miserable cur you are. You are a thorough coward at heart, and you know it. It was a mistake that you were created in the form of a man. You should have been a snake to crawl along the ground.”
With a fierce cry, Flynn struck Merry’s mouth with his clinched fist, cutting Frank’s lips and causing them to bleed a bit.
And Frank laughed again!
“That proves my words true!” he exclaimed, and Flynn shrank away, awed at last by the display of fearlessness.