“I’ll go to the window and see.”
Ben went to the open window and looked out. By the partial light he could see the baffled burglar in full retreat several hundred feet distant.
“He’s gone, Mr. Winter. That is, he’s going.”
“He may come back. Where is the ladder?”
“Outside on the ground where it fell.”
“He may come back and try to climb up again. You’d better go out and take it to the barn.”
“But the man might come back and hurt Ben,” said Mrs. Winter anxiously.
“Don’t be afraid, mother. I’ll take the gun with me, and Albert will come and help me.”
“Yes, yes, go, there’s a good boy!” said Jacob, who was afraid his wife might expect him to go himself. The very thought made him shudder.
Ben smiled a little at his stepfather’s evident alarm, but had no thought of refusing the service asked of him. Indeed he wanted to go out.