"
Then he went out, slamming the door after him. He darted down
to the basement, then waited before the locker door until one
of the monitors came down, unlocked the door, and allowed Phin
to get his hat. But the monitor never looked at him, or spoke.
Once out of the building, Phin could keep back the choking sob
and tears no longer. Stealing down a side street, where he would
have to pass few people, Phin gave way to his pent-up shame.
Yet in it all there was nothing of repentance. He was angry
with himself---in a fiendish rage toward others.
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.
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