"We shan't be able to do a great deal of fighting without weapons."
"By pulling the bed apart we can get what will answer as clubs, and unless there are a number of men in the house we ought to accomplish something."
"It is a bold scheme," Seth replied; "but I am not certain there isn't a fair chance for success in it."
"Unless the man of the house is well supplied with weapons, in which case our clubs would amount to very little."
"We'll do the best we can, and not discuss as to how we may be stopped. It was agreed when we began that this was to be done only for the purpose of helping pass the time."
Enoch's cheerfulness had a beneficial effect upon his companions, and during the next hour Jacob refrained from suggesting difficulties which might be encountered.
Then came the time when one end of the board was severed, it having been literally whittled apart.
It was Enoch who first accomplished his portion of the task, and Seth had so nearly finished that by bending this particular piece downward it was readily broken off.
Reaching through into the aperture, and exploring by sense of touch, Enoch announced that there was probably nothing between them and the apartment below save narrow strips of inch-thick lumber and plaster.
"By taking up one more board we shall have space enough, and I think it will be best to use this piece to pry the other out."