med 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.

"Never mind," he thought. "I swore that one of us should not leave this
swamp alive, and my oath will not be broken. I hated Frank Merriwell the
first time I saw him, and I have hated him ever since. Now he is out of
my way, and he will never cross my path again."

There was a slight stir in the small boat, followed by something like a
gasping moan.

"He don't seem to be dead yet, cap'n," said Ben Bowsprit. "I guess your
aim wasn't as good as you thought."

That nettled Gage.

"Oh, I don't think he'll recover very fast," said the youthful rascal,
harshly.

He rose and stepped over into the smaller boat.

"Give me some matches," he ordered. "I want to take a look at the chap.
He must make a beautiful corpse."

"You'll find I'm not dead yet!" returned a weak voice, and Frank
Merriwell sat up and grappled with Gage.

A snarl of fury came from the lips of the boy desperado.

"So I didn't finish you! Well, you'll not get away!"

"You'll have to fight before you finish me!" panted Frank.

But Merriwell seemed weak, and Gage did not find it difficult to handle
the lad at whom he had shot. He forced Frank down into the bottom of the
boat, and then called to his companions:

"Give me some of that line. I'll make him fast."

A piece of rope was handed to him, and Black Tom stepped into the boat
to aid him. Between them, they succeeded in making Frank fast, for the
boy's struggles were weak, at best.

"Now it is my turn!" cried Leslie, gloatingly. "At Fardale Frank
Merriwell triumphed. He disgraced me, and I w