THE BROKEN WINDOW


Neither Danny nor Bert had expected such an ending to the snowball fight
and for the moment neither knew what to do. Then, as the owner of the
shoe store came running out, both set off on a run.

"Stop! stop!" roared the shoe dealer, coming after them. "Stop, I say!"

But the more he cried stop the harder they ran. Both soon reached the
corner, and while Danny went up the side street, Bert went down, so the
boys soon became widely separated.

Reaching the corner, the owner of the store did not know which boy to go
after, but made up his mind to follow Bert, who could not run as fast as
Danny. So after Bert he came, with such long steps that he was soon
close to the lad.

Bert was greatly scared, for he was afraid that if he was caught he
might be arrested. Seeing an alleyway close at hand, he ran into this.
At the back was a fence, and with all speed he climbed up and let
himself down on the other side. Then he ran around a corner of a barn,
through another alleyway, and into a street leading home.

The shoe dealer might have followed, but he suddenly remembered that he
had left the store unprotected and that somebody might come in and run
off with his stock and his money. So he went back in a hurry; and the
chase came to an end.