Bob listened in increasing excitement.
Then there came a creaking sound. It was from the stairway. They were ascending it.
He thought of waking Frank, but decided to wait.
The sounds draw nearer. There must have been six or seven men upon the stairway, and they were walking up. What for?
He had no doubt what it was for, and he waited, knowing that they were coming to this room in which he was.
They tried to walk softly. There were low whispers once or twice, which ceased as they drew nearer.
Nearer and nearer!
At last Bob knew that they were outside of the door, and as he sat on the bed, he knew that there could not be more than a yard of distance Between himself and those bloody-minded, beetle-browed, ruthless, demoniac, and fiendish brigands.
His blood ran cold in his veins at the very thought.
He did not dare to move. He sat rigid, with every sense on the alert, his eyes fixed on the door, listening.