Then "click, snap!" and the light
disappeared.
"By George!" exclaimed Billie under his breath, "there's a man on
the stairs right opposite to me. Who on earth can it be?"
His first inclination was to turn on the light, but on second
thought he decided not to.
"I'll let him set the copy," thought Billie. "It's a mighty good
thing to be able to spring the surprise."
He drew his automatic and stood ready for any emergency.
It was still as a tomb.
He could hear his own heart beat and he could also hear the heavy
breathing of the other man.
"Sounds like he had been running and was just catching his
breath," was Billie's mental comment.
After some minutes the man's breathing became more quiet and
Billie heard him slowly descending the stairs.
"This won't do," thought Billie. "He probably has some kind of a
light, and if he gets on the landing and I'm up here, I'll be
like a man up a tree."
The lad sat down and slowly slid toward the bottom.
Being only a few steps from the landing, Billie was down first.
He crowded to the right and listened.
The other was now nearly on the landing. Now he was on the
landing, hugging the wall on the side opposite Billie. Now they
passed each other, or rather the man passed Billie, for Billie
stood perfectly still.
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