“Oh, wouldn’t that be great!” he exclaimed exultingly. “How the other kids’d look at me. And if any of ’em got too fresh, I’d just clout ’em on the jaw.”
Frank actually executed the vicious swing of “clouting” some youngster as he spoke. The result was thrilling, but not what the youthful terrorizer would have wished. He was half kneeling, half sitting in an awkward and cramping position, and as he swung his fist on an imaginary jaw, he lost his balance, and his feet slipped from under him.
One heel struck the plank violently, and over it tipped, then with a swing, slipped under the waterfall and was shot down into the chasm. And Bad almost went with it, but he caught himself at the edge of the precipice. For a moment he lay there and looked over. Then he remembered Hal. He was gone. He must have followed the plank into the whirling pool below.
In an ague of horror he crawled back a few yards and staggered to his feet; then with one terrified look behind him, he started on a wild run along the steep shore, sobbing hysterically as he ran:
“Oh, my! Oh, my! I’ve killed Hal! I’ve killed Hal! Oh, what will I do? What will I do? I’ll be hung, I know!”
He arrived at the place where they had crossed and dropped down and pulled off his shoes and stockings. As he was thus occupied he continued his fearful forebodings:
“Pepper said some of us bad boys’d end on the gallows, and I know he meant me. He could look right through me. I always felt it. He’s the first one to call me ‘Bad,’ and then the kids did.
“Yes, I know I’ll be hung if—no, I won’t either. Nobody saw us. I won’t tell. I’ll keep it to myself, and nobody’ll ever find out.”
He crossed back to the other side and in the dusk saw the boys gathering a few hundred feet away. Mr. Porter had called them a few minutes before with a whistle blast, but Frank had not heard it.
Still resolved to guard his terrible secret, Frank hastened to join the other Scouts. Fortunately it was now almost dark and none of them could see his face plainly, or they would have noticed how pale he was. As a rule he was talkative, but now he did not speak at all, except to give the shortest possible answers when addressed. One or two of the boys, observing his unusual manner, asked him what was the matter and he made no reply.