But now, face to face with realities, Billy suddenly began to realize
what hell was going to be like. Billy felt hell surrounding him. Flames
could not beat the reproach that now flared him in the face and stung
him to the quick with his own sinfulness. He, Billy Gaston, Captain of
the Sabbath Valley Base Ball team, prospective Captain of the Sabbath
Valley Foot Ball team, champion runner, and high jumper, champion
swimmer and boxer of the boy's league of Monopoly County, friend and
often tolerated companion of Mark Carter the great, trusted favorite of
his beloved and saintly Sunday School teacher, was in hell! He
could never more hold up his head and walk proud of himself. He was in
hell at fourteen for life, and by his own act! And Gosh hang it! Hell
didn't look so attractive in the near vision stretching out that way
through life, and then some, as it had before he faced it. He'd
rather walk through fire somewhere and stand some chance of getting
done with it sometime. "Aw Gee! Gosh! Whatta fool I bin!"
And then he set himself to see just what he had done, while the high
walls of sin seemed to rise closer about him, and his face burned with
the heat of the pit into which he had put himself.
There was that guy Shafton--sissyman!--He had put him in the parsonage
along with his beloved teacher! If he only hadn't taken that ten
dollars or listened to that devil of a Pat, he wouldn't have put up
that detour and Shafton would have gone on his way. What difference if
he had got kidnapped? His folks wouldda bailed him out with their old
jewels and things. Whaddid anybody want of jewels for anyway? Just
nasty little bits of stone and glass! Mark had seen the guy there in
church. Mark didn't like it. He knew by the set of Mark's mouth. Of
course Mark went with Cherry sometimes, but then that was different!
Lynn was--well, Lynn was Miss Marilyn! That was all there was about it.
And if he hadn't put up that detour Mark would have gone home that
night before twelve and his mother would have known he was home, and
likely other people would have seen him, and been able to prove he
wasn't out shooting anybody, and then they wouldn't have told all those
awful things about him. Of course now Mark was safe, of course,
but then it wasn't good to have things like that said about Mark. It
was fierce to have a thing like that session meeting to remember! He
wanted to kill that old ferret of a Harricutt whenever he thought about
it. Then he would be a murderer, and be hanged, and he wouldn't care if
he did mebbe. Aw Gee!