hat the horde of hoboes would throw sticks and
stones at the helpless men in the sand pit; but he found that this was
against orders, since the presence of such impedimenta would give the
victims something to seize hold of; and the operation of sinking was so
slow, and the hoboes had seen it so many times, that they had lost
interest in it; so that almost at once after Chick and Ten-Ichi were
thrown in they began to withdraw to their several occupations; and
finally when only a group of four remained, Patsy, who was one of them,
called out: "It's tired of this I am. Come on!" and, nothing loath, the
others followed him away.

But he was not long gone. Almost at once he found an opportunity to
leave them, and, by making a detour, to hurry back again.

Already when he had reached the pit a second time the two detectives had
sunk almost to their armpits; but in an instant Patsy found the rope he
had concealed, one end of which was fastened to a tree.

The task which followed can better be imagined than described, and only
for the great strength of the trio it must have been unsuccessful. But
with Chick and Ten-Ichi straining for their lives at one end, and Patsy
pulling on the other as best he could, they came forth inch by inch,
until at last they stood, covered with mud, to be sure, but on solid
earth.

"Now, go around that way," said Patsy, speaking rapidly. "The cottage is
over there, as you know. You'll have to cross a neck of the swamp in
getting to it, but the chief is there, a prisoner. I have seen him. He
is chained to the wall in the cellar. If you get a chance before I do,
overcome that beast of a sentinel, who is walking up and down near the
house. I'll go back through the glade, and I'll manage somehow to join
you there, if I have to kill somebody in order to do it; and take these.
They are extra ones. I swiped them." He handed them each a pistol as he
spoke.

Chance played into Patsy's hands when he returned to the glade. Two of
the men had been quarreling, and they had taken the centre of the glade
to settle their differences; and there a ring had formed around them--a
ring which comprised almost every man of the outfit.

The point was that the attention of everybody was diverted from Patsy,
and, merely bestowing a single glance upon what was taking place, he
hurried silently past them--it was almost dark now--and in a moment more
had passed through the pathway to the clearing around the cottage.

As