Suddenly an idea came to him as he looked at his large valise which, with his trunk, had been brought to his room.
"I have it!" he exclaimed. "My lasso! It's long enough!"
It did not take a minute to get it from the valise. It was a long thin lariat, strong enough to support several pounds, and he knew it would reach over a hundred feet.
"Lucky I thought to bring that with me," he said, "though Billy Carew laughed at me, and asked if I expected to rope any steers in the streets of New York. I guess he didn't figure on this."
It did not take Roy two minutes to fasten one end of the lariat to the bed, which was the heaviest article in the room. Then he tossed the other end out of the window, noting that it touched the ground, with several feet to spare.
"Now for it!" murmured the boy. "It's a dangerous climb, to go down hand over hand, but I think I can slide it!"
Testing the lasso to make sure it was securely fastened, he put one leg over the window sill, grasped the lariat with both hands, and swung himself off.
As he did so he heard the door of his room open, and some one rushed in. There was a cry of alarm.
"That's Wakely," reasoned Roy. "He's discovered that I'm gone."
An instant later the face of Wakely appeared at the window. He shouted to Roy: