“and my integrity saved from suspicion.”
It was a supreme moment of dreadful anxiety to him, and such the intense
excitement of his feelings, that when he rushed upon the door to close it,
his strength was unequal to the task, and before he could recover himself
to renew the effort, a powerful hand seized him by the throat, and threw
him back from the vault, at the same time a ruthless arm struck him to the
ground with the butt end of a pistol.
Taking advantage of this struggle between Heywood and the robbers, Bunker
sprang to his feet and bounded toward the back entrance of the premises.
But before he reached the door a sharp report and the crashing of a ball
showed him that he had only miraculously escaped from having his brains
scattered by one of the bandits. Bounding out of the bank he ran madly
down Water street, not however till another shot from the murderous
revolver cranched through his shoulder.
At this point another of the band of ruffians hastily entered the bank and
exclaimed:
“Clear boys, the game is up.”
The three men instantly jumped upon the counter and made tracks for the
door.
But one man paused in his headlong retreat, and seeing Heywood reaching
for his desk, turned round and leveling his revolver at the devoted head
of the faithful teller, fired, and without a groan, the brave man fell to
the floor,