132 EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 
the window-ledges the broken ends of the joists made 
a rude ladder. Up this the Band clambered to the 
first tier of joists, without any mishap save that the 
Captain’s hat fell off and landed in front of the 
fireplace. 
As they all roosted like chickens on the beams, 
there sounded a footstep just outside. The Band 
stood stony still and held their breath. Through 
the dim doorway came the furtive figure of a man. 
In one hand he carried a basket, while the other was 
clinched on a butcher-knife well fitted for dark and 
desperate deeds. Although the basket seemed to be 
filled with dandelion greens, no one could tell what 
dreadful, dripping secret might be concealed under- 
neath. For a minute the stranger looked uneasily 
around the shadowy room, and when his eye caught 
sight of the Captain’s hat, he started back and peered 
into every corner, while the Band stood taut and 
tense just over his unsuspecting head. At last, 
however, evidently convinced that the hat was owner- 
less and abandoned, he picked it up and, taking off 
his own battered, shapeless head-covering, started 
to try on the Captain’s cherished felt. Then it was 
that the latter acted. Bending noiselessly down 
until his head was hardly a foot above the unwary 
wanderer’s ear, he shouted in a deep, fierce, growly 
voice which the Band had never suspected him of 
having: — 
“Drop that hat! Run for your life!” 
The stranger obeyed both of these commands to 
the letter. Throwing away the hat as if it were red- 
