op of about twelve feet would bring
him onto Weintraub's back roof. For a moment he reflected that, once
down there, it would be impossible to return the same way. However, he
decided to risk it. Where he was, with his legs swinging astride the
girder, he was in serious danger of attracting attention.

He would have given a great deal, just then, to have his overcoat with
him, for by lowering it first he could have jumped onto it and muffled
the noise of his fall. He took off his coat and carefully dropped it
on the corner of the roof. Then cannily waiting until a train passed
overhead, drowning all other sounds with its roar, he lowered himself
as far as he could hang by his hands, and let go.

For some minutes he lay prone on the tin roof, and during that time a
number of distressing ideas occurred to him. If he really expected to
get into Weintraub's house, why had he not laid his plans more
carefully? Why (for instance) had he not made some attempt to find out
how many there were in the household? Why had he not arranged with one
of his friends to call Weintraub to the telephone at a given moment, so
that he could be more sure of making an entry unnoticed? And what did
he expect to see or do if he got inside the house? He found no answer
to any of these questions.

It was unpleasantly cold, and he was glad to slip his coat on again.
The small revolver was still in his hip pocket. Another thought
occurred to him--that he should have provided himself with tennis
shoes. However, it was some comfort to know that rubber heels of a
nationally advertised brand were under him. He crawled quietly up to
the sill of one of the windows. It was closed, and the room inside was
dark. A blind was pulled most of the way down, leaving a gap of about
four inches. Peeping cautiously over the sill, he could see farther
inside the house a brightly lit door and a passageway.

"One thing I've got to look out for," he thought, "is children. There
are bound to be some--who ever heard of a German without offspring? If
I wake them, they'll bawl. This room is very likely a nursery, as it's
on the southeastern side. Also, the window is shut tight, which is
probably the German idea of bedroom ventilation."

His guess may not have been a bad one, for after his eyes became
accustomed to the dimness of the room he thought he could perceive two
cot beds. He then crawled over to the other window. Here the blind
was pulled do