He went to the front door, the inner one, but again he was stumped, for that key was missing, too. That seemed to indicate that Patterson and his wife had left the premises. This appeared to be a reasonable conclusion under the circumstances. They would hardly remain all night after what they had been guilty of. If they had fled the place, they had left a furnished house behind them, and the boy presumed that the furnishings belonged to them. He wondered if the man had intended to kill him, and that the woman had saved his life. The recollection of that awful sight of the descending slungshot he had caught sight of in the mirror, and which he shuddered to recall, and would never forget as long as he lived, made him think so. Believing that he was probably alone in the house, after all, he became less cautious in moving about. He turned the knob of the parlor door and walked into that big room. He could see the ghostly-looking pieces of furniture standing about, an upright piano, and the dim effect of walls covered with pictures. He went through into the back room, the folding doors of which stood open. Here for the first time he heard a sound--the ticking of the gilt ormulo clock on a fancy shelf. The room was furnished as a library. There were bookcases filled with books, and a desk by the back window, the shades of which were down. Suddenly the thought occurred to him to see if there was a telephone in the room. He believed that houses of that class were nearly always equipped with one. Whether Patterson had use for such a convenience or not he could not say. When the man rented the house there was a telephone in it, and though he had little use for it, and as he did not intend to occupy the place long, he let it remain, and Dick discovered it attached to the wall beside the desk. He humped his shoulder and knocked the receiver off the hook. It fell upon his shoulder and lay close to his ear. As soon as he heard the voice of the girl ask for the number wanted he put his mouth near the mouthpiece and said: "Give me police headquarters--very urgent!" Then he tilted his ear toward the receiver again. Presently he heard a man's voice call, "Hello!" "Is this police headquarters?" "Yes," came back the answer. "Send a policeman to No. 164 West ---- street at once. I am locked in the house and my arms are bound to my sides. I am the victim of a pair of crooks, a man and a woman. The doors are locked so the officer will have to come prepared to force his entrance through the area gate or one of the windows. I am telephoning under great difficulties, so please don't ask questions, but act at once." "All right," was the answer returned, and the officer closed his circuit. As Dick couldn't replace the receiver, he had to let it drop the length of its covered wire, and the telephone girl soon saw that something was wrong, and she began ringing.