ent, and went into
the passageway in a perfectly amiable manner.

"I got to have a good look at him, for once," said Penrod, as he stared
frowningly at Whitey. "We got to fix up about that reward."

"I want to take a good ole look at him myself," said Sam.

After supplying Whitey with another bucket of water, they returned to
the carriage-house and seated themselves thoughtfully. In truth, they
were something a shade more than thoughtful; the adventure to which
they had committed themselves was beginning to be a little
overpowering. If Whitey had been a dog, a goat, a fowl, or even a stray
calf, they would have felt equal to him; but now that the earlier glow
of their wild daring had disappeared, vague apprehensions stirred.
Their "good look" at Whitey had not reassured them--he seemed large,
Gothic,[36-1] and unusual.

Whisperings within them began to urge that for boys to undertake an
enterprise connected with so huge an animal as an actual horse was
perilous. Beneath the surface of their musings, dim but ominous
prophecies moved; both boys began to have the feeling that, somehow,
this affair was going to get beyond them and that they would be in
heavy trouble before it was over--they knew not why. They knew why no
more than they knew why they felt it imperative to keep the fact of
Whitey's presence in the stable a secret from their respective
families, but they did begin to realize that keeping a secret of that
size was going to be attended with some difficulty. In brief, their
sensations were becoming comparable to those of the man who stole a
house.

Nevertheless, after a short period given to unspoken misgivings, they
returned to the subject of the reward. The money-value of bay horses,
as compared to white, was again discussed, and each announced his
certainty that nothing less than "a good ole hundred dollars" would be
offered for the return of Whitey.

But immediately after so speaking they fell into another silence, due
to sinking feelings. They had spoken loudly and confidently, and yet
they knew, somehow, that such things were not to be. According to their
knowledge, it was perfectly reasonable to suppose that they would
receive this fortune, but they frightened themselves in speaking of it;
they knew that they _could_ not have a hundred dollars for their
own. An oppression, as from something awful and criminal, descended
upon them at intervals.

Presently, however, they were warmed to a little chee