Part 16 (1/2)
”He brought it on himself,” said Robert ”I gave him warning.”
He went back to the farmhouse to tell Paul of his nephew's escape. He was brave and bold, but the malignant glance with which Ben Haley uttered his menace, gave him a vague sense of discomfort.
CHAPTER XIII.
REVENGE.
In spite of his wounded arm Ben Haley succeeded in propelling the boat to the opposite sh.o.r.e. The blood was steadily, though slowly, flowing from his wound, and had already stained his s.h.i.+rt red for a considerable s.p.a.ce. In the excitement of first receiving it he had not felt the pain; now, however, the wound began to pain him, and, as might be expected, his feeling of animosity toward our hero was not diminished.
”That cursed boy!” he muttered, between his teeth. ”I wish I had had time to give him one blow--he wouldn't have wanted another. I hope the wound isn't serious--if it is, I may have paid dear for the gold.”
Still, the thought of the gold in his pockets afforded some satisfaction. He had been penniless; now he was the possessor of--as near as he could estimate, for he had not had time to count--five hundred dollars in gold. That was more than he had ever possessed before at one time, and would enable him to live at ease for a while.
On reaching the sh.o.r.e he was about to leave the boat to its fate, when he espied a boy standing at a little distance, with a hatchet in his hand. This gave him an idea.
”Come here, boy,” he said.
The boy came forward, and examined the stranger with curiosity.
”Is that your hatchet?” he asked.
”No, sir. It belongs to my father.”
”Would you mind selling it to me if I will give you money enough to buy a new one?”
”This is an old hatchet.”
”It will suit me just as well, and I haven't time to buy another. Would your father sell it?”
”Yes, sir; I guess so.”
”Very well. What will a new one cost you?”
The boy named the price.
”Here is the money, and twenty-five cents more to pay you for your trouble in going to the store.”
The boy pocketed the money with satisfaction. He was a farmer's son, and seldom had any money in his possession. He already had twenty-five cents saved up toward the purchase of a junior ball, and the stranger's gratuity would just make up the sum necessary to secure it. He was in a hurry to make the purchase, and, accordingly, no sooner had he received the money than he started at once for the village store. His departure was satisfactory to Ben Haley, who now had nothing to prevent his carrying out his plans.
”I wanted to be revenged on the boy, and now I know how,” he said. ”I'll make some trouble for him with this hatchet.”
He drew the boat up and fastened it. Then he deliberately proceeded to cut away at the bottom with his newly-acquired hatchet. He had a strong arm, and his blows were made more effective by triumphant malice. The boat he supposed to belong to Robert, and he was determined to spoil it.
He hacked away with such energy that soon there was a large hole in the bottom of the boat. Not content with inflicting this damage, he cut it in various other places, until it presented an appearance very different from the neat, stanch boat of which Will Paine had been so proud. At length Ben stopped, and contemplated the ruin he had wrought with malicious satisfaction.
”That's the first instalment in my revenge,” he said. ”I should like to see my young ferryman's face when he sees his boat again. It'll cost him more than he'll ever get from my miserly uncle to repair it. It serves him right for meddling with matters that don't concern him. And now I must be getting away, for my affectionate uncle will soon be raising a hue and cry after me if I'm not very much mistaken.”
He would like to have gone at once to obtain medical a.s.sistance for his wound, but to go to the village doctor would be dangerous. He must wait till he had got out of the town limits, and the farther away the better.