The fact remains, however, that it had never occurred to us that fox pills would poison colts as well as foxes.
All that day as we worked we brooded over it; and that evening, when we had done the chores, we stole off to the Murches' and, calling Willis out, told him about it and asked him what he thought we had better do.
At first he was incredulous, then thoroughly alarmed.

It was not so much the thought of having to settle for the loss of the horses that terrified him as it was the dread that he might be imprisoned for exposing poison to domestic animals.
"Don't say a word!" he exclaimed.

"Nobody knows about that fox bed.

If we keep still, it will never come out." Addison and I both felt that such secrecy would leave us with a mighty mean feeling in our hearts; but Willis begged us never to say a word about it to any one.

He was as penitent as we were, I think; but the thought that he might have to go to jail filled him with panic.
We went home in a very uncomfortable frame of mind, without having reached any decision.
"We've got to square this somehow," Addison said.