Perhaps he might be fortunate enough to secure it without waking the boy. He hoped so, at any rate, for he was not a desperate or cruel man. He did not wish to injure Ernest unless it should be absolutely necessary. If he could get along without it, so much the better.
Arriving at his destination, he paused to reconsider.
He did not expect to enter by the front door. He did not as yet know whether there was any other. But at any rate there must be a window somewhere, and he preferred to get in that way.
He walked around to the rear of the store, and there he discovered the window. He had been afraid it might be blockaded with shelves, which would make entrance difficult, but fortunately this did not appear to be the case. He stood at the window and looked in.
"He stood at the window and looked in."
The faint moonlight did not enable him to penetrate the interior very far, but he could make out something. There were goods of various kinds scattered about, and he could just see a recumbent figure on a bed near the counter.
"That's the boy," he said to himself. "I wonder if he is asleep."
There did not seem to be any doubt on this point.