He dragged, therefore, the ladder to the opposite end of the barn, and gradually, with no little effort, raised it against the wall.

Carefully he crept through the hole, and softly round the shelf, the dangerous part of the pass, and so on to the ceiling, whence he peeped once more down into the kitchen.
His precautions had been so far unnecessary, for as yet it lay unvisited, as witnessed by its disorder.

Suddenly came to Gibbie the thought that here was a chance for him--here a path back to the world.

Rendered daring by the eagerness of his hope, he got again upon the shelf, and with every precaution lest he should even touch a milkpan, descended by the lower shelves to the floor.

There finding the door only latched, he entered the kitchen, and proceeded to do everything he had seen the woman do, as nearly in her style as he could.