At length he went to sleep, and slept comfortably for three hours or more. Then he suddenly awoke, and none too soon. The window at the rear of the store, leading out into the back yard, was half open, and he saw the figure of a large man crawling through.
“It must be a burglar!” thought Victor, and his heart sank within him.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
INTERVIEWING A BURGLAR.
Victor was not a brave boy, and it must be confessed that he felt dismayed when he saw the burglar, and realized that he was in danger of serious personal injury, perhaps death. This, however, was not his only feeling. He felt responsible for the safety of the goods in the store, having been left on guard. In an emergency one can think rapidly.
Prudence suggested to Victor to lie quite still and counterfeit sleep. Resistance would of course be futile, for he was rather a delicate boy of sixteen, and the burglar was nearly six feet in height and looked as if he might weigh a hundred and eighty pounds.
The burglar, when he had effected his entrance, looked about him to get his bearings.
His glance fell on Victor.
“Ha! a boy!” he exclaimed, and with one stride he reached the pallet on which the shop-boy slept.