having to own up, compared with what he had to
face now, unless--

He sprang up in his bed as a sudden inspiration came to him.
Here was a way out of his troubles, if he could but carry it through.
Everything could be set right, and nothing need ever be known.
And if, he told himself, he got off this time, he would be a good boy for
ever after. If he could only get his boots now from their hiding-place
and put them where Muggridge would be sure to find them in the morning,
all would be right. No sooner had the idea entered his head than he felt
he _must_ carry it out. It was his one and only chance--but there were
difficulties. He got out of bed and crept to the window. The moon was
giving a fair light, and would be brighter later. He thought if he could
only get free of the house he could make his way to the clump of furze
though, of course, it would be difficult, for he would not be able to get
out of the garden as he had before, the door being always locked at night,
and the walls too high to climb. And to try to find one particular furze
bush unless one approached it from the same point would be no easy task.
He determined, however, to make the attempt, and began at once to drag on
some garments. Then he bethought him that he must not make the attempt
just yet, for the household might not have fallen asleep, and he lay down
again to wait with what patience he could. But at last he thought he
might venture, and raising the latch of his door softly, he popped out his
head, first an inch or two, then further and further, and listened for any
sound of voices from his father's and mother's room. They were talking,
and they went on doing so for what seemed to Paul an endless time--he
little guessed that it was his behaviour which was keeping them awake and
sleepless--but at last, to his great relief, other sounds reached him; he
heard his father snoring gently, and determined to put his fortunes at
once to the test.

His depression had gone now, and for the moment he felt only the
excitement of the adventure. Stuffing a piece of candle and a box of
matches into his pocket, he crept downstairs more quietly than he had ever
moved in his life before, and through the stone passage to the kitchen,
for the front door, when opened, grated on the stone floor, and made a
noise which could not fail to rouse the whole household. Everything,
looked strange and uncanny in the dim light, but Paul was too anxious and
eager