the moment he was about to slip forward, he detected the tuft agitating
the chips and dirt about the entrance. He therefore held back and still
watched and waited.

There! the brute must have taken another step farther, for no part of his
appendage was visible. He was wholly within the shed.

It was now or never.

Tom left the door open a few inches, so that if he should find it
necessary to retreat, he would meet with no trouble in re-entering his
home. In that event, however, it wasn't likely Tippo Sahib would meet with
any trouble in following him.

The heart of the youth throbbed violently when he stepped out in the
moonlight and comprehended the perilous nature of the business.

"If he comes out tail first," was his thought, "I'll have a chance to
dodge him; but if he comes head first, I'll be a goner."

He was not idle while these imaginings were passing through his mind. Step
by step, and on tiptoe, he stole forward, until he stood within a couple
of paces of the fastening. Then it was that his courage almost deserted
him, and the desire to turn about and make a dash for the door behind him
was well-nigh irresistible.

But the thought of that magnificent hundred dollars restrained and nerved
him to push on. Another step and he had but to lean forward with
outstretched arm, seize the door, and snap it toward him. He was in the
act of doing so, when he heard a guttural growl from within. Had this