Presently he drew nearer to the ladder and, strangely enough, I felt
safer when he came below me, and he passed almost under me, looking in
at the doorways of the unfinished building. Then he doubtfully turned
and looked back at a shed behind him, thinking I might have gone in
there, and finally started off, and ran on round the next corner of
the building. The moment he disappeared I finished the rest of my run
up the ladder and safely reached the platform of the scaffolding.
The workmen were not yet upon the building, so I had the whole place
to myself. My first act was to look for another ladder as a line of
escape in case of being chased. It is always well to have a back door
to your hiding place; that is one of the essentials in scouting.
Presently I found a short ladder leading from my platform to the
stage below, but it did not go to the ground. Peering quietly over the
scaffolding, I saw my friend the policeman below, still at fault. I
blessed my stars that he was no tracker, and therefore had not seen my
footmarks leading to the foot of the ladder.
Then I proceeded to take note of my surroundings and to gather
information. Judging from the design of the building, its great
chimneys, etc., I was actually on the new power-house. From my post
I had an excellent view over the dockyard, and within 100 feet of me
were the excavation works of the new dock, whose dimensions I could
easily estimate.
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