Eben could not see, but he could hear, the drawer opened and the keys taken out. The robbers then proceeded to tie his hands and feet, and to put a gag in his mouth. They then left him and went down stairs.
Eben might have been excused for being a good deal scared, for his position was far from being agreeable. He was entirely in the power of a set of ruffians, who might kill him on the spot, or, worse still, set the mill on fire and go off, leaving him helpless to perish in the flames. A good deal to his own surprise, however, he found himself perfectly cool and collected, and able to consider clearly all the details of his situation and all the chances of escape. In giving up the keys, he had not thought it necessary to say that they belonged to an old safe in the loft filled with account books, and it was even with a feeling of amusement that he heard the robbers below in the office working at the lock.
"They must be rather green hands," he thought, "or they would see in a minute that the keys don't fit. There! They have got tired of it. I wonder what next?"
One of the robbers now came up stairs and said to Eben:
"Do you understand the lock?"
Eben nodded.
"Then come down and show us the trick of it. We can't get it open."
"Better knock him in the head and blow the lock open!" growled the other man.
"Yes, and make no end of noise and take no end of time," said the first. "No, no, the shortest way is to make the boy do it. Now, I am going to untie you, young man, and take you down stairs, and, remember, my revolver is close behind you."
A thrill of joy passed through Eben's heart at these words. He thought he saw a chance for giving the alarm, if not for escaping, and he determined to run any risk in order to do so. The bell-rope hung in a dark corner just outside the office door, and he knew that the very first clang of the bell would bring Jeduthun to his aid. He uttered a short, fervent prayer for help, and then professed his willingness to go down stairs.