“That would be all right—if we didn’t get caught. But if he catches us it will go so much harder with us when it comes to a settlement.”
“I don’t care,” said the Imp, recklessly. “We may as well be hung for sheep as lambs.”
They talked the matter over, and at last concluded to go below. The candle was extinguished and the door opened with care. They crawled cautiously to the top of the stairs and looked down.
“Everybody is in bed by this time,” whispered Pepper.
They waited a little, to make certain. Then they crept down and made their way to the door of the apartment which the assistant teacher occupied.
“He’s asleep and snoring,” said Jack, and told the truth.
They tried the door and found it unlocked. With extreme care they entered the room. A dim light was burning in a corner of the apartment, casting shadows in all directions. Covered up on the bed lay Josiah Crabtree, flat on his back and with a nightcap on his head.
Their first move was to transfer the key of the door from the inside to the outside. This done, Pepper got a washbowl of cold water and placed it on the floor beside the bed. Then they took several of the chairs and placed them on the floor sideways, and put down several piles of books near by.
“Now open the window wide,” whispered Pepper. “But be careful or he may wake up.”
The window was opened top and bottom.