[117] [117] It was agreed that this plan would be a good one to follow, and, accordingly, Tom was selected to go forward and reconnoiter. Advancing cautiously, while his companions remained in hiding, our hero got to a point where he could command a good view of the old mill. “Now I guess I’ll just lay low for a while,” he remarked to himself. “If I go any closer, and Wallace is in there, it will be just as bad as if we all plumped in on him. Me for a quiet wait.” Tom made himself as comfortable as possible, and for nearly half an hour intently watched the mill for any sign of life. But he saw nothing, and he knew his chums would soon be getting impatient. “I guess I’ll take a chance and go in now,” thought Tom. “I don’t see anything suspicious, and if the old hermit is there, surely he would show himself by this time.” He rose from his crouching attitude, glad enough to be on the move again, for he was cramped and stiff, and was about to rise above the bush that screened him, when a slight noise in the direction of the old mill attracted his attention. A moment later old Wallace came out of the main entrance, dressed as though about to go away, for he had on his coat and cap, and carried his gun. “Jove!” cried Tom. “That was a narrow[118] escape! In another second I’d have been in plain view, and then the game would have been up.” [118] Hastily he stooped down again, and waited until the old man had gone down the hill, and was out of sight. Fortunately he took a course that would not bring him near the other hidden lads. “Now to see if the coast is clear,” remarked Tom, after waiting a bit to make sure that the hermit was not coming back. “If Skeel and those fellows are in there I won’t mind them so much. I rather guess they won’t be glad to see me.” Exercising all needful caution, Tom advanced closer to the ancient structure. He gained the old driveway, unseen, he hoped, and, walking carefully about, he listened intently. There was no sound save the murmur of the water in the old sluiceway. “We’ll take a chance,” decided the lad, and he hurried back to signal his chums. In a few seconds they joined him.
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