Afterwards, he learned that the books and other contents of his desk were burned in the school yard at recess, to the singing of a dirge. But, even for the purpose of making a bonfire of his books the students would not touch the articles with their hands. They coaxed the janitor to find a pair of tongs, and with this implement Phin's books and papers were conveyed to the purifying blaze.
Behind the door in the privacy of his own room Phin Drayne shook his fist at the surrounding air.
"I have one mission in life, now, anyway!" raged the boy. "I've got some cruel scores to pay. You, Dick Prescott, shall come in for a large share of the payment! No matter how long I have to wait and plan, or what I have to risk, you shan't get away from me!"
CHAPTER VII
Dick Meets the Boy-with-a-Kick
Evil thoughts can never be cherished, day after day, without leading the more daring or brutal into some form of crime.
Phin, the first three or four times he tried to appear on Main
Street, was "spotted" and hissed by High School boys.
Even the boys of the lower schools heard the news, and took up the hissing with great zest.
So Phin was forced to remain indoors during the day, which drove him out by night, instead.
Had he been older, and known more of human nature, he would have known that the hissing would soon die out, and thereafter he would meet only cold looks.