If he s as much stunned with the lick and fuddled with the rum as he
had the look of being, he won t think of the knife till he s gone so
far he ll be afraid to come back after it to such a place by
himself chicken-heart!
Two or three minutes later the murdered man, the blanketed corpse, the
lidless coffin, and the open grave were under no inspection but the
moon s. The stillness was complete again, too.
CHAPTER X
The two boys flew on and on, toward the village, speechless with
horror. They glanced backward over their shoulders from time to time,
apprehensively, as if they feared they might be followed. Every stump
that started up in their path seemed a man and an enemy, and made them
catch their breath; and as they sped by some outlying cottages that lay
near the village, the barking of the aroused watch-dogs seemed to give
wings to their feet.
If we can only get to the old tannery before we break down! whispered
Tom, in short catches between breaths. I can t stand it much longer.
Huckleberry s hard pantings were his only reply, and the boys fixed
their eyes on the goal of their hopes and bent to their work to win it.
They gained steadily on it, and at last, breast to breast, they burst
through the open door and fell grateful and exhausted in the sheltering
shadows beyond. By and by their pulses slowed down, and Tom whispered:
Huckleberry, what do you reckon ll come of this?
If Doctor Robinson dies, I reckon hanging ll come of it.
Do you though?
Why, I _know_ it, Tom.
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