Penrod and Sam plunged down the stairs and out of the stable.
They climbed the back fence and fled up the alley. They turned
into Sam's yard, and, without consultation, headed for the cellar
doors, nor paused till they found themselves in the farthest,
darkest and gloomiest recess of the cellar. There, perspiring,
stricken with fear, they sank down upon the earthen floor, with
their moist backs against the stone wall.
Thus with boys. The vague apprehensions that had been creeping
upon Penrod and Sam all afternoon had become monstrous; the
unknown was before them. How great their crime would turn out
to be (now that it was in the hands of grown people) they did not
know; but, since it concerned a horse, it would undoubtedly be
considered of terrible dimensions.
Their plans for a reward, and all the things that had seemed both
innocent and practical in the morning, now staggered their minds
as manifestations of criminal folly. A new and terrible light
seemed to play upon the day's exploits; they had chased a horse
belonging to strangers, and it would be said that they
deliberately drove him into the stable and there concealed him.
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