He listened intently. There was not a sound. The house was dark, and, as he stood there, anxiously waiting, he heard a clock strike ten.
“They’re asleep,” he said softly. “Now for something to eat.”
He made his way to the pantry. He struck a match, one of a supply he always carried, and found a piece of candle. This he lighted, and, by its flickering glow, he made a meal from cold victuals which were on the shelves.
“Guess I’ll take a little lunch with me,” he remarked softly. “It may come in handy.”
He did up some bread and meat, a bit of cake, and a piece of pie in a paper, which he thrust into his pocket. Then, having put on his shoes, and grasping his case, he let himself out of the front door.
“Well, I’ve run away,” he remarked grimly, as he looked back at the dark and silent house. “Now for a free life, without being scolded every minute by old Klopper. I’ve got the whole world before me, and I shouldn’t care if I never came back, if I could only get to where dad and mom are.”
Poor Jack! he little realized what was in store for him before he would see his parents again.
CHAPTER VII
A NARROW ESCAPE
With the one thought firm in his mind, to get safely away from the house, Jack gave little heed which way he went. Naturally he headed away from the village, for he knew, late as it was, nearly midnight now, some one would be about who might know him.
“I’ve got to keep out of sight for a while,” thought the boy. “If I guess right, the professor will be so mad because I have run away that he’ll have the police in all the nearby places on the lookout for me. Nearly every officer in Westville knows me, so I don’t want to meet any of them.”