IN THE NICK OF TIME
Standing in the darkness of the upper front room, stealthily watching the
mysterious stranger on the other side of the street in the shadow of the
elm, and knowing that burglars were at work below stairs--the nerves of
mother and daughter and of Alvin Landon and Chester Haynes were on edge.
Had they peered out of the window less than half an hour earlier they
would have seen the meeting between the lookout and young Jim Buxton.
Mike Murphy had slipped so silently from among them that no one was aware
of his absence when the bumping and crash at the rear were followed by
exclamations and words that were not intelligible. Mrs. Friestone uttered
a faint cry and sank back on her chair. Nora screamed and threw her arms
about her mother's neck.
"They will kill us! What shall we do?" she wailed.
For the moment Alvin and Chester, startled almost as much as their
friends, were mystified. When Chester said:
"That sounds like Mike's voice. Hello, Mike, are you here with us?"
The failure to receive a reply proved that Chester was right. Their
comrade had stolen off and was already in a "shindy" at the rear of the
store.
"He may need our help!" called Alvin, starting for the stairs, with his
chum at his heels. But Nora, who had heard the unguarded words, called in
wild distress:
"Don't leave us! Don't leave us!"
They stopped irresolute. They could not abandon the two, and yet Mike's
life might be in peril.
"Go back to them," whispered Chester. "There's no call for both of us to
stay."
"Better not go down yourself; you know you have no weapon. Let's take a
look."
First of all it was necessary to quiet the daughter and mother, for one
was as much terrified as the other. Alvin hastened into the room.
"We will not leave you," he said, "but we wish to see what we can from
the kitchen window."
"Oh, you may fall out," moaned Nora, scarcely responsible for what she
said. Even in the crisis of a tragedy a vein of comedy will sometimes
intrude itself.
"Have no fear of that," replied Alvin. "I will hold Chester from tumbling
out and he will do the same for me. Pray, compose yourselves."
During this brief absence Chester had threaded his way past the furniture
in the darkness to the window, out of which he was gazing on a most
interesting moving picture which had vanished when Alvin appeared at his
elbow.
"It made my blood tingle," said Chester. "I was just in time to see a
man, who must have leaped out, running for life with Mike in pursuit. He
had that old gun in one hand--as if it could prove of any earthly use to
him."
"Where are they now?"
"The fellow, after leaping the fence, turned to the right and disappeared
among the shadows."
"With Mike still chasing him?"
"As hard as he could run, but you know he hasn't much speed."
"I wonder," whispered Alvin, "whether there are any more of them
downstairs."
They stepped noiselessly to the head of the steps and listened.
Everything was so quiet that they heard the ticking of the clock on the
wall of the store.
"I don't believe anyone is there. Let's take a closer look."
Alvin struck a match from his safe and led the way, thus saving the two
from the mishap that had overtaken their friend. They were a trifle
nervous when they stepped upon the lower floor, Alvin maintaining the
illumination by burning more matches. He climbed upon the counter, and
lighted the large oil lamp suspended there for such purpose. Adjusting
the wick to the highest point it would stand without smoking, the two
looked around.
What they saw completed the story that had already taken shape in their
own minds. The unbroken dark lantern lay on the floor where it had
fallen, the light having been extinguished. The raised window showed by
what avenue the burglar and Mike had left the building, but what amazed
the youths more than anything else was the wide open door of the safe.
Not a burglar's tool or device was in sight, and the appearance of the
lock and door without a scratch showing proved that no part of the
structure had been tampered with. It was just as if Mrs. Friestone had
manipulated it--as she had done times without number.
"Whoever opened it must have known the combination. And how did he learn
it?"
Chester shook his head.
"Perhaps Mrs. Friestone can guess. I'll ask her."
Going to the foot of the stairs, the young man called to the woman just
loudly enough for her to hear. He said the visitors had left, but the
door of the safe was open and it was advisable for her to come down and
take a look at things.
She timidly came down the steps, with Nora tremblingly clinging to her
skirts, ready to scream and dash back to the front of the house on the
first appearance of danger. But nothing occurred to cause new alarm, and
mother and daughter stared wonderingly at the safe with its wide open
door.
"Who did that?" asked the woman, in a faint voice.
"One of the burglars," replied Chester.
"How did he learn the combination?"
"That's the mystery; Alvin and I cannot guess. Was it known to anyone
besides yourself?"
"No; I changed it two days ago and did not even tell Nora. Not another
soul knew it--and look!"
She pointed to a bunch of keys, one of which was inserted in the lock of
the middle small drawer, with a half dozen others dangling from the metal
ring. It will be understood that while the door of the safe was opened by
means of a usual combination of numbers, the interior was guarded by only
a tiny lock and key. This was more convenient, for, when the massive door
was drawn back, the little wooden drawers, even with a combination, would
not avail long against a burglar.
"They have taken the money!" gasped the widow.
"Let us see."
As Alvin spoke, he turned the key. The lock clicked and he drew out the
drawer. There lay the big sealed envelope with the two thousand five
hundred dollars intact within, while the stamps and cash receipts of the
day were neatly piled on the shelf beneath.
The astonishing truth was that the criminal had been interrupted at the
critical moment when he had succeeded in fitting a key to the lock. Had
Mike Murphy been the fraction of a minute later in bursting upon the
scene, he would have been too late. The robber would have carried off
nearly three thousand dollars.
"That's what I call the greatest luck that ever happened," said Chester.
The discovery was as cheering as amazing. The large amount of money had
been saved by a hair's breadth. The woman clasped her hands in
thankfulness. Chester slowly shoved the steel door shut.
"Now try the combination," he said to Mrs. Friestone. "Chester and I will
turn our backs while you do so."
"And why will you do that?"
"So that we shall not learn the secret. If anything like this happens
again, you cannot say we did it."
She saw the smile on his face and knew he spoke in jest.
"It may be the lock was broken in some way," suggested Chester.
But it worked perfectly. The knob was turned forward till the finger
pointed to a number, then back and then forward again to another numeral.
It moved as smoothly as if the delicate mechanism was oiled.
"Now open it," she said to the lads, her spirits rallying over her good
fortune. They shook their heads and Chester said:
"We might succeed, and that would be suspicious."
"Whether you noticed the combination or not, you surely did not know what
it was a little while ago. I acquit you of having any understanding with
the burglars."
"What's become of Mike?" asked Nora plaintively, speaking for the first
time. "I'm afraid something dreadful has happened to him."
"He is probably still chasing the bad man," said Chester.
As if in answer to her wail a hasty tread was heard at that moment and a
bushy red head without a cap appeared at the window, as if flung thither
by the hand of a giant. The bright light within the door told him the
story.
"The top of the morning to ye all, for I jedge it's near morning, as Tim
Mulligan said after he had been slaaping fur two days and nights. I hope
ye are all well."
He began climbing through and was half inside when Nora dashed forward
and caught hold of his arm. It so disarranged his balance that he tumbled
on the floor, the rifle falling from his grasp.
"I'm so glad to see you, Mike! I was afraid those awful people had killed
you," said the happy girl. "Are you hurt?"
"Not worth speaking of; I think my neck is broke and me lift leg
fractured in two places, but niver mind."
Then the exuberant youth told his story, to which his friends listened
with breathless interest.
"Then you didn't catch the villain?" said Chester inquiringly.
"No, but I made it hot fur him, as me cousin said after chasing the
expriss train a couple of miles. He has longer legs than mesilf. The next
time I engage in a chase wid him I'll make sure his legs is sawed off at
the knees, so as to give me a chance. If I had thought to have that done
I'd brought the spalpeen back to ye."
"Well, you drove him off in the nick of time. He didn't get away with a
penny," said Alvin.
"But what was the maans he used to open that door? That's what gits
me--whisht!"
The report of a gun rang out on the stillness, and the friends stared at
one another. Before anyone could venture an explanation, the sound of
hurried footsteps told that someone was approaching.