Ned saw a gleam of hope. If only they carried out their plan there was still a chance for him. Crouching behind the barrel, he eagerly awaited the sound of the next move, for he did not dare to protrude his head from his hiding place.
Presently came the scraping sound of the ladder being run up to the skylight.
“Up, undt after him!” cried Schmidt.
Three men nimbly ascended the ladder. Ned, looking up, could see them as they mounted, but luckily they did not look down. It never occurred to them that the lad for whom they were searching was within a few feet of them, and not on the roof at all.
The last to ascend were the hawk-eyed man and Schmidt himself. The fat German was so eager to join in the pursuit that he could not forego the, to him, painful climb up the ladder, which it involved.
Ned chuckled as the two pairs of ankles vanished through the skylight. The moment had arrived for him to put his plan into execution. He lost no time in doing so.
Darting from his hiding place, he ran toward the ladder and, seizing it, he sent it crashing to the floor.
The escape of the men on the roof above was cut off.
“Hip! hip! hooray!” yelled Ned at the top of his healthy lungs.
The crash of the falling ladder and the sound of the hearty cheer brought Herr Schmidt to the edge of the skylight.