Sneaking up along an old hedge, Hal gained the half-tumbled-down piazza and glided swiftly into the hall, now more than quarter filled with snow, which the sharp wind had driven in.
"Certainly a cheerless place," he thought. "But I suppose they thought no one would come here, and so they would be free from interruption."
He entered the parlor of the house, and then walked through to the dining-room, the library, and then the kitchen. Nothing was disturbed, and the smooth snow, wherever it had drifted in, did not show the first sign of a footstep.
"Good! I am in plenty of time," said Hal to himself. "I must tramp around a bit, and then bind myself up as best I can."
He waved his handkerchief out of one of the windows and then proceeded to tie his feet together.
He had just finished the work, when Horace Sumner and two officers rushed in.
"They are coming!" exclaimed the old broker. "There are Allen, Hardwick, and two strangers."
"The strangers must be Parsons and Samuels," said Hal. "Here, bind my hands, and shove me into the closet, and then hide."
This was done, and less than a minute later a stamping was heard, and Allen, Hardwick, Parsons, and Samuels entered the parlor.
"Hullo, Macklin, where are you?" cried Hardwick.