The three little boys were so surprised that they just stood there, looking at the shower of broken glass on the pavement. Then Tom cried:
"Oh, we'd better run!"
"What for?" asked Russ.
"'Cause you broke the window. The lady or the man'll come out an' they'll get a policeman."
Russ said nothing for two or three seconds. Laddie, who was just going to bounce down his top, to spin it, still held it in his hand. He didn't want to break a glass.
"Come on!" cried Tom in a whisper. "Come on 'fore they catch us!"
Russ shook his head.
"No," he answered. "I'm not going to run. I'll stay here, and when they come out I'll tell 'em I busted it and my father will pay for it. That's what we always do; don't we, Laddie?"
"Yep," answered the smaller boy.
"Did you ever break windows before?" asked Tom, who had started to run away, but who came back when he saw that his two friends were not coming with him.