“Let him!” said Mrs. Jones. Nevertheless, she locked the kitchen door as the boy had advised.
The Cubs barely had time to explain where they had obtained the money, than the man was pounding to be let in.
“Don’t do it,” Brad advised the widow. “He’s a tough customer. Better let the police handle him.”
Chips and Midge had gone to the window to look out.
“Come back, boys,” Mrs. Jones ordered. “If that tramp is a criminal, he might take a shot through the glass.”
Alarmed, the two boys moved back out of range.
Outside, a door slammed as if in the wind. Mrs. Jones, hearing the sound, stiffened.
Then, unmindful of her own warning to the Cubs, she ran to the window.
“Why, that sneak!” she exclaimed. “He’s opened the double doors leading down into the basement!”
“Then he’ll be up here in another minute!” Babe quavered. “He’ll get us!”