"The only thing I fear is that Hodge may not care to come to his rooms at all." The thought made him uneasy, and caused the vigil which followed to appear torturingly long.
"Ah! there he is!" he whispered, at last.
Slipping across the path, he tied an end of the cord he had brought to a post, then retreated into the shadow and tied the other end about the column.

The youth he had seen came on at a brisk walk.

Pike was sure it was Hodge.

He almost ceased to breathe as the unsuspecting young fellow approached the cord.

He put himself in position for a hasty spring.
Crash! The youth tripped over the string, and went down headlong, falling heavily.
"I reckon I've got you now!" Pike hissed in a low tone, imitating Badger's voice, and at the same time leaping toward the prostrate form.
Deceived by the darkness, Donald Pike had tripped Frank Merriwell, but he did not yet know it.