Some one was trying hard to raise the dining-room window—the rattling being such that there was no mistake about it.
"It's that tramp!" exclaimed the boy, all excitement, stepping softly into the next room and listening at the head of the stairs, "and he's trying the window that he took the nail out of."
The noise continued several minutes—long after the time, indeed, when the tramp must have learned that his trick had been discovered—and then all became still.
This window was the front, and Fred, in the hope of scaring the fellow away, raised the sash, and, leaning out, peered into the darkness and called out:
"Halloo, down there! What do you want?"
As may be supposed, there was no answer, and after waiting a minute or two, Fred concluded to give a warning.
"If I hear anything more of you, I'll try and shoot; I've got a gun here and we're ready for you!"
This threat ought to have frightened an ordinary person away, and the boy was not without a strong hope that it had served that purpose with the tramp whom he dreaded so much.
He thought he could discern his dark figure among the trees, but it was probably fancy, for the gloom was too great for his eyes to be of any use in that respect.
Fred listened a considerable while longer, and then, drawing his head within, said: