"Frank Merriwell! Oh, Frank, where are you? Frank! Frank!"
A night-bird swept past, and answered his shouts with an eerie cry; but the voice of Frank Merriwell did not come up out of the darkness below.
"It"s no use!" came hoa.r.s.ely and hopelessly from the lips of Bart Hodge. "Merriwell is a goner! It was most remarkable that Bas...o...b..caught hold of that vine and so escaped."
Fred Davis sprang to his feet, and rushed at Bas...o...b.. who was cowering and shivering in the midst of the boys.
"You killed him!" screamed the little plebe. "You"re responsible for his death! It was murder!"
"Thot"s roight!" came from Barney Mulloy.
Bas...o...b..cowered and retreated before Davis. All his bullying spirit was gone, and he shivered when the little fellow declared it was murder.
"You shall be hanged!" wildly cried Fred, shaking his clinched hands in Bas...o...b..s face. "I will testify against you! You shall be arrested and hanged!"
"Take him away, somebody!" muttered Bas...o...b.. hoa.r.s.ely.
"Touch me if you dare!" defied Davis, who seemed quite beside himself.
"I have been a coward long enough, and I am not afraid of you all now!
If I hadn"t been a coward, I should have fought here to-night, instead of Merriwell, and he would be alive now! Oh, I"ll never forgive myself for letting him fight in my place! But I"ll do my best to avenge--I"ll swear he was murdered!"
"That"s rot," said Rupert Reynolds, rather weakly. "It was a clean case of accident."
"I am not sure about that," came significantly from the lips of Bart Hodge. "We all heard Merriwell cry out that he had been blinded. That meant something. There was foul play here, and the parties who were in the dirty game must suffer for it."
"Faith, an" thot"s roight, Bart, me b"y!" exclaimed Barney Mulloy.
"It"s as clane a lad as iver brathed thot wint over Black Bluff to his death th" noight, an" somebody will pay dear fer this pace av worruk."
Bas...o...b..still remained silent, seeming incapable of offering any defense.
"It is useless to waste any more time here," said Hodge, sharply.
"This awful business must be reported in camp. We must get boats from the boathouse, and search for Merriwell"s body."
He started away, and the boys began to follow him. Bas...o...b..stood quite still, and saw his late supporters, with the exception of Reynolds, draw away and leave him, as if he were some creature to be avoided.
"Oh, that"s the way!" he grated, bitterly. "They"re afraid they will be mixed in it some way, and so they sneak! I am left to face the music alone!"
"Brace up, old man," urged Reynolds. "You may not be in such a very bad box. I don"t see how they can do anything but expel you from the academy, and it is likely I will have to take the same medicine, as I was your second."
"Oh, you"re trying to show a bright side; but I tell you, Reynolds, there is something worse than expulsion to follow this!"
"What do you mean?"
"You heard that plebe Davis declare he would charge me with murder?"
"Sure; but he"s deranged for the moment."
"He will make the charge, just the same; and I"ll have to face it."
"But it cannot be proved against you."
"I am not so sure. If I hadn"t flung red pepper in Merriwell"s eyes I"d have a better show. Now it will look as if I did that to blind him, so I might force him over the bluff."
"I don"t believe anybody can think you as bad as that. You certainly had no desire to do anything more than whip Merriwell by some means, fair or foul."
"It is easy enough to say that, but I"m afraid it will not be easy to make people believe it. I swear, Reynolds, it"s a terrible thing to have anything like this hanging over a fellow! Why, it has taken all the nerve out of me! I"d give my right hand to see Frank Merriwell alive and well at this moment!"
"Don"t go to pieces that way, Bas...o...b.." entreated Rupert. "You"ve got to keep a stiff backbone. Come, let"s hurry after the others."
Reynolds got hold of Bas...o...b..s arm, and fairly dragged him after the other lads, who were making their way toward camp.
Each step that brought the big fellow nearer camp made him more desperate. Finally, he declared:
"I"m going to know what Hodge and Mulloy mean to do."
Then he hastened forward till he came upon Bart and Barney, who were accompanied by Fred Davis.
"Look here, fellows," said Bas...o...b.. "I"ve got some questions to ask you."
"Well, ask them," directed Hodge, shortly, as the boys halted and cl.u.s.tered again.
"I want to know if you actually think I am wicked enough to wish to kill a fellow cadet and cla.s.smate?"
"As fer mesilif, Oi dunno," admitted Barney. "Yure a big scoundrel, but Oi don"t loike ter think any felly"s villain enough to do murther."
"But it looks mighty black for you, Bas...o...b.." said Bart. "We all heard Merriwell cry out that he was blinded, and then you seemed to drag him straight for the brink of the bluff."
"It was an accident!" declared Bas...o...b.. hoa.r.s.ely. "I did not dream we were anywhere near the edge of the bluff."
"It was not accident!" cried Fred Davis. "It was murder, and I will swear to it!"
"You hear that," came huskily from the lips of the accused. "If you fellows stand by him, I am done for."
"We"ll have to be given time to think it over."
"No, that is wrong, for you"ll be forced to make some explanation as soon as you get into camp."
"We"ll simply tell the truth."
"That will ruin me!"
"Which cannot be helped. The truth is the only thing that will stand in a case like this."
"All right. There"s no show for me."
Bas...o...b..turned about in a blind way, and Reynolds caught him by the arm, asking:
"Where are you going? What are you going to do?"