"The dangers of the Alps are very greatly exaggerated," he said, indifferently.
"Yes, I presume so. Suppose we approach the edge cautiously and look down."
There is a fatal fascination about danger. Just as the moth hovers persistently about the flame, to which in the end he falls a victim, so we are disposed to draw near dangers at which we shudder. We like to see it for ourselves, and, shuddering, to say: "Suppose I should fall in."
Our young hero was of a daring disposition. He had never been timid or nervous, inheriting his father's physical traits, not his mother's. So Sharpley's proposal struck him favorably, being an appeal to his courage.
As he spoke he drew near the fatal brink, not observing that his companion was not at his side, but just behind him.
"Now for it!" thought Sharpley, his breath coming thick and fast.
One push from behind, and Frank was over the ledge, falling--falling--falling.
There was one scream of terror, and Sharpley found himself alone upon the cliff.
There are not many men who can commit a crime of violence without an inward shudder and a thrill of horror. Sharpley was not a professional murderer. He had never before taken life. His offences against law had been many, but none had stained his soul with blood till now.
He felt faint as he saw the disappearance of his young ward, sped by his own hand to a death so fearful.
"It is done and can't be undone," he muttered. "He will never know what hurt him. I am glad it's over. It was a dirty job, but I had to do it. Craven forced me to this. He must pay well for it."
"Shall I look over the cliff?" he asked himself.
He advanced a step, but drew back with a shudder.
"No, I can't do it," he said to himself. "It will make me dizzy. I shall run the risk of falling over myself."
He retraced his steps for a few rods, and then sat down to think. It was necessary that he should concoct some plausible account of the accident, in order to avoid suspicion, though that was not likely to fall upon him. Who could dream of any motive that would impel him to such a deed? Yet there was such a motive, as he well knew, but the only one who shared the knowledge was in America, and he was criminally connected with the crime.