The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1923-03-30
CHARLES J. BUTTON
Copyright 1872 By Dodd. Mead q Co.. Ina.
CHAPTER Vl-continued.


He made a careful search Of the
vault. The boxes lined the walls to
height of six feet on all sides. A
few cigarette stubs on the dirt floor
showed that some one had been smok-
1ng, but there was nothing to indicate
1shOm he might have been. AS he
finished his examination, BARLEY said,
II guess we may as well go now"
| had taken off my hat when I en-
tered the vault, and placed it on one
of the boxes, and now when / looked
for 1t / could not find it. 1t occurred
70 me that 1t must have fallen behind
box; and, taking Bartley'S torch,
climbed upon the box and flashed
the light into the niche behind the one
on which / thought had laid 1t.
There it lay. AS l reached for it my
hand came in contact with something
hard. | knew, even as my fingers
groped for the object, that it was
revolver. Climbing down from the
box, went up to BARLEY. :
Look what l found!" l exclaimed.
where did you get that?" he asked
excitedly as he took it from me.
| told him of my hat falling behind
the boxes, and how the revolver had
been in the niche back of them. There
seemed no reason for his being so ex-
cited over the find, but Ills next words
enlightened me.
That's the gun that was in Sykes
hand this morning. l. recognize the
worn place on the BARREL"
But how did it get there?' asked
in wonder.
II don't know" was the reply. at
looks as il the person that threw 1t
back Of the boxes, did it to hide 1t.
He may intend to come for it later"
To my surprise, he bent over sud-
denly and blew out the lantern. In
second the vault was in darkness.
Currie started to demonstrate, but a
warning whisper from BARLEY stopped
him.
Both Of you get back of that door
at once There is someone outside.
Don't make move or sound,
think he is going to come in"
I heard Currie mutter in surprise
! as we CROPPED our way behind the
door. At first l could hear nothing;
then on the other side of the wooden
door heard some one stumble and
a hand tumble for the lock. What
could it mean? If the truck had come
back for another load we were in a
bnd fix indeed The men who had
fired at US before would not hesitate
to shoot to kill this time, and when
we were missing no one would think
to search for us in this vault. In a
fight, the odds were heavily against
US. as BARLEY alone was armed.
Curries and myself had been placed
by BARLEY so that when the door
opened we would be hidden by it. He
took up his position on the other side,
crouching fiat against the WALL 1t
was too dark to make out his figure,
or even that of Currie at my side. I
listened to his uneasy breathing, and
for second wondered what he was
thinking about.
Whoever was opening the door had
no fear of making noise. He STUN
bled into the vault and swung the
door behind him with a little click
Then slit Of light pierced the dark
ness and we crOuched against the
wall, scarcely daring to breathe. ex-
pecting every moment that he would
see us. Just what he had come for
never knew. He played the light
rather aimlessly along the walls, then
turned in onto the floor All at once
it paused. and / heard an astonished
gasp. No wonder. for the light was
resting on Bartley's shoes.
The next second he had extin-
guished 1t ana was making for the
door. Almost before he had moved
BARLEY had flashed on his own torch
and was saying, "Put up your hands,
i have you covered
The light in Bartley's hand had
been focused on the mans body, leav-
ing his face in darkness. AS he be-
gan to move it upward to his face, the
man made swift, flying dive at
Bartley's legs. The attack was so
sudden that he was taken unawares,
and they fell to- the floor together. AS
BARLEY went down, he struck the but
ton of his torch and extinguished it,
leaving us in darkness. We could
hear the two men thrashing about on
the floor. but could not tell who was
getting the best of it, Then / remem-
bered the lantern and searched for
that Relighting it. held it above
my head so chat the light fell on the
floor. BARLEY was sitting on the man
that had attacked him, his face and
white suit streaked with dirt and a
lump reddening over one eye, but he
was smiling. He directed me to find
HIS torch. which had rolled half under
box, and relight it. When 1 had
complied. he rose to his feet, and
pulling the man up with him, told me
to throw the light on the face of his
prisoner
Let's have look at this chap"
We saw black, scowling face, and
cruel, shifty eyes that blinked angrily