second level.

When they came out to the timber work, Will, who was in the lead,
motioned to the others to remain in the background.

"What's doing now?" whispered Sandy.

"There's a man working on the ladders," explained Will in a low
whisper. "I can't see him yet, but I can hear the sound of a saw."

"He may be cutting the rungs," suggested Tommy.

"That's the notion I had," replied Will. "Suppose we all get around
behind the air shaft and wait until we can find out what he is up to.
It may be that bum detective, for all we know."

"What would he be doing there?" questioned Sandy.

"Sawing the rungs!" whispered Will. "He wouldn't cut them down, of
course, but he might saw them so that they would break under our
weight and give us a drop of a couple of hundred feet."

"It doesn't seem as if any human being would do a thing like that!"
cried George. "It would be a wicked thing to do!"

While the boys whispered together, the sound of sawing continued. The
man engaged at the task was evidently unfamiliar with such work, for
they heard him puffing and blowing as the saw cut through the wood.

"He's cutting the rungs, all right!" Will said in a moment. "And that