"We've come to pull you out of this scrape," another said, after waiting a few seconds for a reply.
Then a lamp was pushed through, Fred and Sam crouching close against the wall to avoid observation, and its owner cried in a tone of astonishment:
"He isn't here! The place is empty!"
A deep silence reigned for a moment, and then some one said in an angry tone.
"It ain't hard to understand the whole thing now. He slipped the ropes, an' come out this way. Wright has heard the story, an' that's why the works were shut down so suddenly."
"But what's become of him? He ain't in the town."
"Of course he is, an' hidin' somewhere. Jim, you run back an' tell Billings so's he can hunt the sneak out."
"Are you goin' on alone?"
"Why not? Them fools are guardin' the slope, an' we can flood the place before they so much as think any one has got in behind them. Tell the boys we'll be back by sunset."
Sam touched Fred, to warn him that the time for action had arrived, and, slight as was the movement, it caught the attention of the man on the opposite side.