"But why should you do that?" persisted Merritt, who was looking eagerly aloft just then, and possibly not fully paying heed to what he was saying.
"Why, you know how firemen stand and hold a blanket for people to jump into?" explained Tubby; "I thought that if it came to the worst, Rob might drop the baby into this sheet, which both of us could hold stretched out!"
"Well, you are a daisy, after all, Tubby!" cried Merritt, in sincere admiration. "That's as clever a scheme as anyone could think up. Here, give us a grip of an end, and we'll get ready for business!"
Quickly they clutched the four corners of the sheet. Fortunately, it appeared to be a fairly new bed-covering, and might be trusted to bear a certain weight without tearing.
Having reached the point where nothing more could be done in order to assist Rob, the other two scouts had to stand there and wait, as the precious seconds crept by, each seeming like an age to their anxious hearts.
Meanwhile, what of Rob, who had, without the least hesitation, risked his life in order to save the child forgotten in the excitement of the Uhlans' coming, and the strange events that had so soon followed?
When he reached that window, he found it closed, but, on his pressing against the sash, it had swung inward, allowing him free access to the room.
It was rather an appalling prospect that confronted Rob. The smoke seemed to be thick, and he could not see three feet away. For all he knew the fire that was raging in the lower part of the inn might by this time have eaten partly through the floor boards, so that, if he put his weight on them, he stood a chance of being precipitated into the midst of the flames.
Rob never hesitated a second. He had taken all these matters into consideration when making up his mind as to what he meant to attempt. More than this, he did not believe anything partaking of such a disaster threatened him in case he entered that apartment.