"Catch her!" he cried, swinging the girl out over the window-ledge, so that they could see her below.
Immediately Bart and Ephraim extended their arms and stood ready.
"Let her come!" shouted Hodge.
Frank dropped the girl, and the two young men clutched at her as she fell directly into their arms.
At that moment the door behind Merry flew open with a slam and the ruffians came bursting into the room.
One of them held a lighted lamp.
The fellow in advance saw Frank in the window and flung up his hand. There was a loud report and a burst of smoke. When the smoke cleared the window was empty, Frank having disappeared.
"Nailed him!" shouted the ruffian who had fired. "Nailed him for sure!"
He rushed forward to the window and looked down, expecting to discover the body of his victim stretched on the ground. But in this he was disappointed, for neither Frank nor his friends were beneath the window.[Pg 313] Into the darkness of the crooked street some dusky figures were vanishing.
Frank had leaped from the window, being untouched by the bullet that fanned his cheek in passing. He struck on his feet, but plunged forward on his hands and knees. In a moment he was jerked erect by some one who observed: