It was now getting lighter every minute. Tom felt that each moment was precious. Unless he got the window open soon and could manage to escape through it, he would be discovered.
“There!” he exclaimed with a breath of relief as he at last broke off one nail. “Now for the other.” The second proved easier, for after working it backward and forward a number of times and twisting it about, Tom pulled it out. Now the window could be raised, and this he did cautiously.
He waited a moment after lifting the sash and listened. There was no sound from below, and he thought that the men were still sleeping. He put his head out and looked down. To his dismay the window was higher above the ground than he had hoped, and there was on that side of the house neither a vine nor a rain-water pipe that he could descend.
“I’ve got to jump for it!” he grimly decided. “But that grass below looks soft.” There was a big clump of green below the window. Tom climbed out, sat down on the sill, edged himself over and then hung by his hands a moment. This reduced the length of his drop by his own height. He hung there a moment and then let go.
Down he plunged, coming to a stop on the earth with a thud that shook him greatly. He seemed to lose his breath and a sharp pain shot through his left ankle.
“Guess I’ve sprained it,” he mused. The pain was actually sickening, and made him feel faint. Through an open window on the first floor he heard some one exclaim:
“What was that noise?”
“What noise?” asked another.
“It sounded like some one falling.”
“Guess you were dreaming! Get up and make some coffee. I’m half starved.”