“We can do nothing here,” said he, after he had pulled and pushed until the inside of his hands seemed to be on fire.  “We must try the window.”

“But that is so high you can’t reach it,” said Lester.

“Not from the ground, I know.  You will have to hold me up.”

Descending from the porch with noiseless footsteps, the boys passed around to the rear of the cabin, and when Lester had stationed himself under the window, Bob quickly mounted to his shoulders.  He examined the window as well as he could in the dark, and began to grow discouraged.  It was boarded up with two-inch planks, and they were held in their places by the largest spikes Don could find at Mr. Jones’s store.  Bob pushed his lever under one of the planks, but when he laid out his strength upon it, Lester rocked about in so alarming a manner, that Bob lost his balance, and to save himself from falling, jumped to the ground.

“We might as well go home,” said he, rubbing his elbow, which, owing to Lester’s unsteadiness, he had scratched pretty severely on the rough planks.  “If we only had a bundle of straw we’d start a bonfire.”

“It’s a pity to go home and leave all these birds here,” replied Lester.  “Let’s get up on the roof and tear off some of the shingles.  We can climb up by those posts that support the roof of the porch.”

“O, it is easy enough to get up there, but what good will it do to tear off the shingles?  We couldn’t get the birds out unless one of us went down after them, and it wouldn’t be me, I tell you!”

“We’ll not try to get the birds at all.  We’ll leave the holes open so that they can escape.  Wouldn’t that be better than allowing them to stay here for Dave Evans to make money out of?”

“I should say it would,” exclaimed Bob, who always grew angry whenever anything was said about David’s chances of making money.  “But we’ll first make one more effort to get the birds ourselves.  Hold me up again and don’t wobble about as you did before.”

In a few seconds more Bob was again perched upon his companion’s shoulders, and this time he was sure that his efforts would be crowned with success.  The planks were fastened to the window casing, which, on one side, was too badly decayed to hold the spikes.  He started some of them with the first pull he made at his lever, and, encouraged by his progress, was about to prepare for a greater effort, when Lester uttered an exclamation of alarm and jumped from under him.

“Great Moses!” exclaimed Bob, who came to the ground with fearful violence.  “Do you want to kill a fellow?”

“No,” said Lester, whose voice trembled so that it was almost inaudible.  “There’s somebody coming!”

Before Bob could ask any more questions, a loud, shrill whistle, which sounded only a little distance away, rang through the quarters, followed almost immediately by the impatient yelp of a hound.  The young prowlers were frightened almost out of their senses.  Before they could make up their minds what ought to be done, a voice shouted: