ses in the village. Slipped the fellow
into the vault with his hands tied and shut the door with a trig so that
he couldn't kick it open right away. Idea was that anybody stepping in
later would think he had gone home; we intended to put out the light;
nothing desperate about us; we wouldn't shoot the bolts. Bill said to
Tom that there'd be a hunt for the fellow when he failed to show up at
home, wherever he lived, and he'd sure be pulled out of the vault in
good season. Thoughtful, you see! Not bloody villains. Simply wanted
time for our getaway. Slow pulling up this hill with handsleds! But
we slit a bag to make sure of what we would be pulling. And we kept on
slitting bags. And--" the short man shook his head and sighed. "You
say it, Tom. I'm trying to be sociable in this talk with these
gents--showing a full and free spirit in coming across with the facts.
But I don't trust myself!"

"Nor I!" declared Tom. "We'd better not spoil a pleasant party."

"Well, Bill wrote his sentiments, as they occurred to him at the time.
Then we heard somebody hollering at the front door that we had left
open. We ran and jumped behind the door of the bank office. The fellow
who galloped in ran a few times in circles and then he galloped out. He
might have noticed a rhinoceros if the rhino had risen up and bit him.
But he paid no attention to Bill and Tom behind the door. And Bill and
Tom walked out. And we managed to get clear of the village just as that
Town Hall crowd broke loose.

"Says Bill to Tom, when they were on their way: 'It's plain that banks
are bunk, like everything else these days. Let's stick to our humble
line where we know what we're doing.' But, having been studying bank
robbing, we had got ourselves nerved up to take desperate chances--and
we bulled the regular game in Levant. Coarse work, because we were off
our stride. All due to the bank. The bank stands liable for damages.
We're up here collecting. Cashier, consider what regular and desperate
cracksmen would have done to you! Considering our carefulness where you
were concerned, and the trouble we have been put to in getting out and
chasing you, what say?"

Again Vaniman got a strong grip on his emotions. He was a fugitive;
these cheeky rascals had his fate in their hands; he was not in a
position to reply to their effrontery as his wild desire urged. He did
not dare to open his mouth just then with any sort of reply; he did not
trust himself even to look the