Still he determined not to give up. He dashed on into the court, leaving behind the aged man who was now the centre of an excited throng. "He vos a t'eef! He knocked me down! He vouldn't vait until I looked to see if I am robbed!" was the burden of the aged one's cry. "Call de police! He vos a t'eef!" Ned ran across the open space and into the other tenement house. The hallway there seemed deserted, but he knew it would not be so long, when the cries from the other house had aroused the inmates. "If I can only get through the corridor, and into the other street I can fool Cassidy," Ned reasoned. "I seem to be having all my bad luck at once." He had almost reached the front door, for it was the back entrance of the structure that he had gone in, and he thought he saw freedom before him, when there sounded behind him a cry of: "Stop thief! Stop thief!" This is enough to arouse excitement anywhere, but in a New York tenement nothing can sooner be calculated to draw the inmates from their rooms, than such an alarm, unless, indeed, it be one of fire. No sooner had the first cry resounded through the corridor than the hall was swarming with people. Ned found his way blocked, the more effectually when one woman ran to the front door and closed it. "I've caught you!" she exclaimed. "I'll teach you to rob honest people, even if they are poor!" "I haven't robbed anybody!" cried Ned, as he saw the throng in front of him, and heard the tramp of many feet in his rear. "Stop him! Hold him!" cried half a score. Ned looked about him. There seemed to be no way of escape. He was standing near the flight of stairs leading to the upper stories of the second tenement. There was a little clear space in front of him, as the crowd before him was composed mostly of women, who were a little timid about approaching too closely to a "thief" even if he was only a lad. "I'm going to chance it," thought Ned. "If I can get to the roof I can cross to some other house, and go down a scuttle hole, perhaps, and so reach the street. Or I can hide until the excitement blows over." With this in mind he suddenly grasped the balustrade near which he was. With a jump and a swing he was over it and part way up the stairs. Then he began to run, while the crowd below him, surprised at his sudden escape, set up a chorus of yells. But Ned had a good start. He took the steps three at a time, and was soon at the top. Then he essayed the next flight, and so on until he found himself on the roof, which was a big, wide stretch of tin. It was used as a place for hanging out clothes, and was easy of access from the top hallway. Below him Ned could hear the shouts and cries, and the tramp of many feet. "Which way shall I go?" he asked himself, as he paused for an instant. "Guess it can't make much difference."