"Stop!" cried Tom, but he knew the command was a useless one. At the sound of his voice Merrick looked up and muttered something the boy could not catch. Then he swung himself from the bottom landing of the fire escape and dropped to the ground.
"If he can get down that way, so can I," thought Tom, and in another moment he was descending the escape in the same fashion as the swindler had done. As he reached the second landing of the escape he saw Merrick turn the corner of the alleyway and disappear on the street beyond.
When Tom came out on the street he almost ran into the arms of two burly men who had come out of the tenement. Both caught him by the arms.
"What does this mean, young fellow?" asked one, savagely. "Doing the sneak-thief act?"
"I am after a thief," was the answer. "Did you see a man running away?"
"No, and we don't think there was a man," answered one of the tenement dwellers.
"Well, there was a man," said Tom. "Come, if you will help me catch him I will reward you well."
"What did he steal?"
"Some bonds worth ten thousand dollars—they belonged to my uncle," explained Tom, hastily.
The promise of a reward made the men attentive and they soon agreed to assist Tom as much as possible. Then Dick and Sam came in sight, and had to be told of what had happened.