A bullet whizzed over his head.  Chester now took deliberate aim and fired.  The Austrian’s weapon fell to the floor with a clatter, the man himself staggered and tried to retain his feet.  He reeled forward toward Chester and then, just as the boy would have pressed the trigger again, collapsed almost at the lad’s feet.

“I guess that settles the whole lot of you,” Chester muttered to himself.

He ran quickly to where Hal lay and raised his chum’s head to his knee.  Hal made no move.  Chester laid his hand over Hal’s heart, and drew a breath of relief as he felt a faint beating.  He stroked his friend’s head, and rubbed his hands, and presently was rewarded by a sigh of returning consciousness.

Then Hal opened his eyes.

“Wow!  A terrible dream I just had, Chester,” he said.

Chester smiled in spite of himself.

“It came almost being your last dream,” he replied quietly.

Without waiting for a reply, he laid Hal gently down again and hurried to Uncle John.  The latter raised himself on one elbow even as Chester bent down beside him.

“Careless of me to get in the way of a bullet like that,” he said with a faint smile.  “I’ll know better next time.”

“Where are you hit, sir?” asked Chester anxiously.

“Caught me in the left side, some place,” replied Uncle John, and with Chester’s aid, got to his feet.

Chester made a quick examination.

“Lucky, sir.  Just a flesh wound,” he said.  “I’ll have it fixed up in a jiffy.”

Making a bandage of his handkerchief, he soon had the wound tied up as well as could be done under the circumstances.  Then the lad lent Hal a hand as the latter staggered to his feet.

“How do you feel?” asked Chester.

“Well, I don’t feel very chipper, and that’s a fact,” replied Hal with a grimace.  “That fellow had powerfully strong fingers.”

“I guess we are lucky at that,” remarked Chester.

“Lucky?” exclaimed Uncle John.  “I’d like to know how you make that out, and me with a bullet hole in my side.”

“Why,” Chester explained, “the best we figured on was for one of us to get away, and now we are all at liberty.”

“Perhaps we are,” said Uncle John dryly.  “I’ll feel a whole lot safer when I once get outside of this house.”

“Then we had better be moving,” said Hal.  “Come on.”

He led the way to the end of the hall and into the room beyond.

“I guess we can get out this way,” he said.

He examined a window at the far end of the room.

“Quite a drop down there,” he said, “but I guess it can be done.”

Chester and Uncle John also surveyed the distance to the ground.

“It’s got to be done,” said Uncle John.  “I’ll go first, if you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead, sir,” said Hal.

Uncle John climbed to the sill, and then lowered himself until he hung by his hands.