my readers will admit that to awaken from sleep, and see a man looking in at the window, is sufficient to startle a brave man. when it is added that the face bore the unmistakable mark of bad passions and a lawless life, it will be understood that andy might well have been excused for momentary terror.
he was, however, partly prepared for the visit by the knowledge that there was money in the house, which he was especially commissioned to guard. still, he had not really supposed there was any danger of a burglar coming to so quiet a village as hamilton in pursuit of money.
besides, no one but himself, so he supposed, knew that the maiden ladies had a large sum of money in their dwelling.
i will not deny that andy was startled—i will not admit that he was frightened, for this is inconsistent with his conduct.
he certainly had not awakened any too soon. there was not a minute to lose. the burglar was trying to raise the window, preparatory to entering the room.
in this, however, he met with a difficulty.{88} the window was fastened at the middle, and he could not raise it.
“curse the bolt!” exclaimed the disappointed burglar. “i shall have to smash it in!”
just then, however, andy sprang from the bed, and, under the circumstances, hogan felt glad. he could frighten the boy into turning the fastening, and admitting him.
as andy rose, he grasped the old musket, and, not without a thrill of excitement, faced the scoundrel.
if the gun had been loaded, he would have felt safe, but he knew very well that he could do no harm with it.
mike hogan saw the gun, but he was not a coward, and he felt convinced that andy would not dare to use it, though he supposed it to be loaded.
“what do you want?” called out andy, in a firm voice.
“open this window!” cried hogan, in a tone of command.
he was not afraid of being heard by other parties, on account of the isolated position of the house.
as he spoke, he tugged at the frame of the window; but, of course, without success.
“why should i?” returned andy, who wanted time to think.{89}
“never mind, you young jackanapes. do as i tell you!” said hogan, fiercely.
as he spoke, overcome by his irritation at being foiled when close upon the treasure he coveted, he smashed a pane with his fist, but not without cutting his hand and drawing blood.
through the fractured pane andy could hear him more distinctly.
“what do you want?” repeated andy.
“i want that five hundred dollars you are guarding, and i mean to have it!” returned hogan.
“what five hundred dollars?” asked andy, but he could not help being startled by the accurate information of the burglar.
“oh, you needn’t play ignorant!” said hogan, impatiently. “the lady who lives here sent for you to take care of it. she might as well have engaged a baby,” he added, contemptuously.
“you will find i am something more than a baby!” said andy, stoutly.
“open this window, i tell you once again.”
“i won’t!” said andy, shortly.
“you won’t, hey? do you know what i will do with you when i get in?” demanded hogan, furiously.
“no, i don’t.”{90}
“i’ll beat you black and blue.”
“you’ll have to get in first,” said our hero, undaunted.
“do you think i can’t?”
hogan spoke with assumed confidence, but he realized that it would not be easy if andy held out. he had already had a severe experience in breaking one pane of glass, and shrank from trying another.
“i know you can’t,” said andy, and he raised the gun significantly to his shoulder and held it pointed toward the burglar.
“put down that gun!” shouted hogan.
“then leave the window.”
“just wait till i get at you,” said hogan, grinding his teeth.
he realized that andy was not as easily scared as he anticipated. to be balked by a mere boy was galling to him. if he only had a pistol himself; but he had none. he had had one when he left new york, but he had sold it for two dollars, fifty miles away. he was positively helpless, while andy had him at a disadvantage. should he give up his intended robbery? that would be a bitter disappointment, for he was penniless, and five hundred dollars would be a great windfall for him. an idea came to him.
“put down your gun,” he said, in a milder{91} tone. “i have something to propose to you.”
in some surprise, andy complied with his request.
“there are five hundred dollars in this house.”
“you say so,” said andy, non-committally.
“pooh! i know there are. that is a large sum of money.”
“i suppose it is,” said andy, who did not understand his drift.
“so is half of it. two hundred and fifty dollars would be a big sum for a boy like you.”
“what have i to do with it?” asked andy, puzzled.
“open this window and let me in, and i’ll share the money with you.”
“oh, that’s what you mean, is it?”
“yes. no one need know that you have part of the money. it will be thought that i have made off with all of it.”
“then you think i am a thief, like yourself?” exclaimed andy, indignantly. “you are very much mistaken. even if this money were in the house, i wouldn’t take a cent of it.”
“oh, you’re mighty honest! and i’m a thief, am i?” sneered hogan, surveying our hero with an ugly look.
“yes,” answered andy.{92}
“you’ll repent your impudence,” said hogan, with a vindictive scowl.
as he spoke, he enlarged the hole in the pane, and, putting in his hand, attempted, by thrusting it upward, to unlock the fastening.
had he succeeded in doing this, he could have raised the window easily, and, once in the chamber, our young hero would have been no match for him.
andy realized this, and saw that he must act instantly.
he brought down the butt end of the musket on the intruding hand with all his strength, the result being a howl of pain from the burglar.
“you’d better give that up,” said andy, his eyes flashing with excitement.
somehow all his timidity had vanished, and he was firmly resolved to defend the property, intrusted to his charge as long as his strength or shrewdness enabled him to do so.
“your life shall pay for this,” exclaimed the injured burglar, with a terrible oath.
andy realized that he would fare badly if he should fall into the clutches of the villain, whose face was actually distorted by rage and pain. the extremity of his danger, however, only nerved him for continued resistance.{93}
“once more, will you open the window?” demanded hogan, who would not have parleyed so long if he had known any way to get in without andy’s help.
“no, i won’t!” answered andy with resolution.
mike hogan surveyed the window, and considered whether it would be feasible to throw his burly frame against it, and so crush it in. undoubtedly he could have done it had he been on the same level, but it was about three feet higher than he, and so the feat would be more difficult. besides, it would be a work of time, and andy, in whom he found much more boldness than he anticipated, might shoot him.
a thought came to him, and he began to descend the sloping roof.
“what is he going to do now?” thought andy. “has he given it up as a bad job?”
this was a point which he could not determine.
