"Are you ready?" Enoch asked nervously as he raised his weapon.
"As nearly now as we ever shall be," Seth replied, and in another instant there came a resounding crash as tiny particles of plaster rose in the air.
Enoch had struck the first blow, and his club opened a hole sufficiently large to admit daylight, thus rendering it possible for the boys to see each other.
Jacob and Seth followed his example, and only three blows were needed, for the barrier had been torn away to such an extent that there was ample space for all three of them to leap down at the same time.
"It isn't more than fifteen feet," Enoch said as he looked into the apartment below. "Of course there are chances we may come to grief; but we mustn't stop to think of them. There has been so much noise that the owner of the house cannot fail to know what is being done."
"We'll follow you," Seth replied.
Throwing his club down, Enoch followed, striking the floor with a thud that must have been heard throughout the building.
"Come on! It's all right!" he shouted.
Seth followed his example.
Jacob dropped his weapon, but hesitated before making the leap. The distance looked very great as viewed from above, and the landing-place particularly hard.