Then came a flash of hope. Perhaps after all Tode was not so badly
hurt. Perhaps he had been shamming just to scare them. At this
thought, Dick's quick pace slackened and he had half a mind to go back
and see if the body still lay there, but he could not bring himself to
do that. He shivered and hurried on aimlessly, through the brightly
lighted streets. He was afraid to go home, lest he be met there by the
news that he dreaded. He was afraid to stay in the streets, for every
moment he expected to feel the heavy hand of a policeman on his
shoulder. He said to himself that Carrots and the others might inform
against him just to save themselves.
So, as wretched as a boy well could be, he wandered about for an hour
or two, stopping sometimes in dark corners and then hastening on
again, stealing suspicious glances over his shoulders, and listening
for pursuing footsteps. At last, he turned homeward, longing, yet
dreading, to see his mother.
It was nearly midnight when he crept softly up the stairs, but his
mother had been unable to sleep, and as his hand touched the door in
the darkness, she threw it open with a sigh of relief that her weary
waiting was over for that night. She did not find fault with him. It
seemed to her utterly useless now to complain or entreat.
Pages:
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150