“Now is our time!” exclaimed Pelter.  “Quick, with that other rope!”

A second rope, also made from sections of a blanket—­ but stronger than the first—­ was produced.  As the lower end struck the ground, Pelter commenced to slide down, closely followed by his partner.  Evidently they were both willing to risk their lives in an effort to escape.  The thought of going to jail filled them with grim terror.

Reaching the ground, neither of the men hesitated an instant over what to do next.  The man who owned the place knew it thoroughly, and he turned in the direction of the barn, and his partner went after him.  They crossed a back lot, and then, coming to a side road, took to that, running as fast as their wind and strength permitted.

In the meantime Dick, hearing Crabtree groaning, came down in the sitting room to look at the sufferer.  The man was still flat on his back.

“Oh, my leg!” he groaned.  “Oh my leg!  Can’t you get a doctor?”

“Perhaps,—­ later on,” answered Dick.

“Oh, Rover, I never thought I would come to this!” whined the criminal.  “Oh, the pain!”

“We’ll do what we can for you, Crabtree.  You had better lie still for the present.”

Dick listened in the hallway.  As nobody seemed to be at the garret stairway, he ran outside, to learn how Tom was faring.

“Tom!  Tom!  What happened to you?” he cried, in horror, when he beheld his brother on the ground.  Then he saw the footstool and a cut on Tom’s head and understood what had occurred.  The dangling rope told the rest of the story.

“They have gotten away!” he groaned.  “And after all our efforts to hold them prisoners until help came!  Too bad!”

He wanted to go after the brokers, but just now his concern was entirely for his brother.

He turned Tom over and then ran for some water.  When he returned Tom was just opening his eyes.

“Dick!  Some—­ something hi—­ hit me!” gasped the hurt one.

“They threw that wooden footstool at you, Tom.  I’m afraid you’re badly hurt.”

“Am I?  I—­ I feel mighty queer,” returned Tom, and then he closed his eyes again.

Dick was now more alarmed than ever.  He carried his brother to the dining room, and laid him on some chairs, with a doubled-up blanket from a bed for a pillow.  He washed Tom’s head and bound it up as best he could.  Once or twice the injured youth opened his eyes for an instant, but he did not make a sound.

“It was a fearful blow,—­ it must have been!” thought Dick.  “I hope they didn’t crack his skull!”

Josiah Crabtree was still groaning in the next room, but Dick paid little attention to the man.  Nor did he think of the rascals who had escaped.  All his thoughts were centered on Tom.

“If I only knew where to get a doctor,” he mused.  Then he ran out of the house by the front door and looked up and down the road.