ny risk to run, he would readily have incurred it for
the sake of getting away from the poor-house, in which he was unwilling
to spend a single night. He fastened one end of the rope firmly to his
bedstead, as he had proposed, then cautiously got upon the window-sill
and lowered himself, descending hand over hand till he reached the
ground.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he detached himself from the rope and
stood beside Frank Dunbar.

Just then the boys heard a second-story window open, and saw Mr.
Tucker's head projecting from it.

CHAPTER XV. ESCAPE AND FLIGHT.

Though the boys had made as little noise as possible, conversing in an
undertone, they had been heard by Mrs. Tucker. Her husband, as was his
custom, had gone to sleep; but Mrs. Tucker, who, during the day, had
discovered the loss of ten cents from her bureau drawer in which she
kept her savings, had been kept awake by mental trouble. Some of my
readers may think so small a loss scarcely worth keeping awake for, but
Mrs. Joe Tucker was a strictly economical and saving woman--some even
called her penurious--and the loss of ten cents troubled her.

She would have laid it to one of "them paupers," as she was wont
contemptuously to refer to them, except that she never allowed one of
them to enter the sacred precincts of her chamber.

A horrible thought entered her mind. Could it be Zeke, the boy whom she
thought such a paragon, though no one else had been able to discover
his virtues or attractions! She did not like to think of it, but it did
occur to her that Zeke, the previous day, had asked her for ten cents,
though he would not own the purpose for which he wanted it. The boy
might have been tempted to take the money. At any rate, she would go and
see.

Zeke slept in a small room adjoining. When his mother entered, with a
candle in her hand, he was lying asleep, with his mouth wide open, and
one arm dropped over the side of the bed.

Mrs. Tucker took a look at him, and saw that he was wrapped in slumber
and unable to notice what she proposed to do. His clothes were thrown
down carelessly on a chair near-by.

Mrs. Tucker searched first in the pockets of his pants, and, though she
discovered a large variety of miscellaneous articles, "of no use to any
one except the owner," she didn't discover any traces of the missing
dime. She began to hope that he had not taken it, after all, although,
in that case, the loss would continue to be shrouded