“Some one’s down there now,” says Plunk.
“The Man’s b-been lookin’ over our defenses quite a spell,” says Mark. “I’ve noticed him p-p-prowlin’ around.”
“Then,” says Motu, “we may expect a stirring up of something directly.”
Of course, as soon as The Man saw the way we had the stairs fastened up with stout wire he’d know there wasn’t any use trying to cut it with a knife like he did the rope on the stairs below. Likewise, unless he was a better schemer than Mark Tidd he wouldn’t be able to figure out any other place to attack us than right up those stairs. So if he got us there was where he would have to come, and he would have to discover some plan to get down our stairs to climb up.
It might have been easy if he was where he could get tools, but it isn’t customary to leave many valuable tools laying around an abandoned hotel, and he didn’t have very much to work with. I guess he was a bit dubious himself, for he came and stood where we could see him and called up to us:
“Ho! up the stairs,” says he. “I wish to be speaking and talking with you, eh?”
“Go ahead,” says Mark.
“You are tangled up like trap with bunny rabbit in it,” says The Man. “Nobody can go away—not at all by any means. Oh no! You are very fast and tight. Is it not without loud arguments so?”
“We’re p-p-perfectly comfortable,” says Mark. “You haven’t seen us t-tryin’ to go away, have you?”
“You will surrender up voluntary, eh? There has been fight and bickering plenty for everybody. For boys you have fight like bantam rooster. Oh yes, like everything. Now you are finished up, I believe. Yes?”