Dan and Ted, who had merely meant to make the restive horses rear a bit "just for fun," to frighten "the prig," thinking that the coachman could easily clamber up again and pull them in, rushed from the spot with faces paler than Percy's and hearts that beat fast and loud from other causes than running.
Meantime how fared it with the victim of the "fun"?
As soon as he recovered from the shock of the sudden start, Percy pulled on the lines with all his might. But the flying animals scarcely noticed the tightening rein. Only aware that the iron grip with which they were usually held was no longer there to restrain them, they tore along at a mad pace, plunging and snorting with the joy of unaccustomed freedom.
Fortunately the street was but little travelled, but then there was the steep hill to go down.
The boy's naturally timid heart almost failed him utterly as he fully realized the danger, and for a moment he was tempted to throw himself back among the robes and hide his face from the disaster that was all but certain.
But suddenly his eye lit up with an unusual fire; he took a fresh hold on the lines, braced his feet, leaned back, and prepared to face the worst.
With a whirl, a rush, and a swaying from side to side, the four-horse runaway neared the steep descent. In an instant the boys toiling up with their sleds gave the cry of warning, and the hill was cleared. Then, with eyes almost starting from their heads, they gaze after the brief vision of Percy Vance driving a four-in-hand at lightning speed.
As for Percy himself, he can scarcely realize that the dreaded coasting hill has been left behind with no wrecked sleigh, wounded horses, and bruised boy to keep it company. But hardly has he had time to congratulate himself on his escape when another noise mingles with the rattle of the bells, and the next instant he finds that he is started on a mad race with a train of cars.
With a cold thrill of terror coursing through his frame, Percy now recollects that the road runs parallel with the railroad track for a mile or more in the open country, and then crosses it. And here is the train beside him.
Spurred on to yet greater speed by the thunder of the cars the horses rush onward. The keen wind cuts Percy's face almost as sharply as a knife, while the thought of the crossing fairly burns itself into his brain.