Tom sprang
towards the open shutter, convinced that his quarry had climbed out into
the tiny gallery; but at the same moment he came heavily in contact with
some one, and was taken so unexpectedly, that at the end of a brief
struggle here and there upon the floor Tom uttered a cry, for he stepped
suddenly down over the edge of the trap-way, completely losing his
balance as his foot was checked on a stair eighteen inches below, and he
fell heavily, bumping down all of a heap to the lower floor, where he
lay half-stunned, listening to the banging down of the trap once more,
and feeling stupid and confused as he gathered himself up, and again
ascended the steps, to thrust open the door with hands and head.

This time as he passed through he closed the trap after him, and stood
dizzy and panting, knowing that he was hurt, but unable to tell how
much.

A sound that he heard cleared his head the next moment, for it sent a
thrill of excitement through him which told him he could not be very
bad, and he stepped quickly to the open shutter and began to get
through.

For the sound he heard was the rap of the top of the ladder against the
little gallery rails; and as he crept out and into the little wooden
construction, he felt for and touched the end of the ladder, which was
quivering as if some one was going down.

There was no dizziness in Tom's brain now. The enemy was just below and
escaping.

Passing one leg over the rail, Tom planted a foot safely as he held on,
then the other, and began to descend as rapidly as he could, feeling the
ladder quiver more and more, and then hearing as he was half-way down a
whisper. Then he felt a jerk, one side of the slight implement was
wrenched over sidewise, and the top glided from the gallery. The next
moment he was falling as he clung, and before he had time to think, he
and the ladder came to the ground with a crash.

CHAPTER FORTY ONE.

Tom was some ten feet or so from the ground when he described an arc in
the darkness, so that it was not a very serious fall, but bad enough to
knock the sense out of him for a moment or two, and the worse from its
coming so closely upon his bumping down the upper steps. Consequently
he lay quite still with the ladder upon him for a while, with a dim idea
that he could hear whispering, scrambling, and then the patter of steps
somewhere not far away.

Those footsteps were still to be heard when the boy thrust the ladder
over, rose ve