"I can't agree to that. Both of you came
into this thing to oblige and to help me, and it would be a cowardly
trick on my part to put the risky work on your shoulders. I'll try
it."

"Let's toss up," suggested Jim, "or draw straws. I'm willing to take
my chance."

"I know you are, Jim," said Jack, "but I insist on having a shot at it
myself. If they catch me, it may leave a chance for you two to get
clear away. I know it's a mere toss-up whether the plan comes off or
not, but we must try something."

Jack left his Mannlicher with Buck and slipped away up the stairs
once more. He regained the window where Me Dain was watching, and
found that the Burman had nothing to relate save that much rustling
had been heard. Within five minutes again Jack saw the very thing he
had been awaiting. A dark, thin shape rose from the bushes and began
slowly to creep up the wall. It was a ladder which the dacoits were
raising to the window below which they stood, a ladder formed of a
couple of bamboo stems with rungs of creepers.

Now came the time for action, and Jack drew the Burman back into the
passage and locked the door himself; luckily the big key turned
quietly and easily. Down to the lower floor hurried Jack and crossed
to his friends.

"They have raised the ladder just as I expected," he said. "Now I'm
off."

"Good luck, Jack, good luck," breathed Jim and Buck earnestly, as Jack
dropped on hands and knees at the door and glided out at a hole which
they had prepared for him by moving a portion of the barricade. When
he found himself in the open, Jack paused for a moment and listened
with all his ears. But he could not catch the slightest sound of
either voice or movement on this side, and he glided on like a snake,
keeping his body very low and pressing closely against the dark wall.

He gained the corner of the building just beyond the door, and
cautiously put his head round. Again he listened and looked. All was
quiet, and once more he slipped on. Near the next angle was a patch of
low-growing bushes. He worked his way into these with the utmost care,
and raised his head slowly until he could peer through the upper
shoots. He now commanded the rear of the building, and his heart gave
a great thump of excitement and satisfaction as he saw the sight which
he had been hoping for. He saw the swaying line of the ladder clear
against the sky, and mounting it, rung by rung, a line of climbing
figures. The dacoits were swarmi