CHAPTER XXII
LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT
Jack had been sitting in the dark for several minutes when he heard a sound from the loft overhead.
Some one was stirring, there was a yawn, then a step on the floor and then some one said impatiently:
“Hello, down there! Can’t you show a light? Where are you all, anyway, and what time is it?”
The boy started for he knew that voice and had hoped that he would never again hear it.
It was that of the man with the white mustache and the dark hair and eyebrows whom he had met in the woods near the foot of the hill leading from the Academy.
He said nothing and then he heard steps moving about in the loft and the man spoke again.
“I’ll fall down there before I know it. There’s a hole somewhere, but where is it? Hello, there! can’t you show a light? Isn’t there anyone about? Where have you all gone?”
Then he heard a footstep on the ladder and knew that the man was coming down, grumbling as before.
“What’s that man doing here?” he thought. “I had hoped I would never see him again. If he is not careful he will be taken and spend more of his time in prison.”