How long he slept Jack did not know, but he awoke
with a start, and he was at once aware that his awakening
had been caused by some sudden noise. For a moment
he was so confused that he could not think clearly,
or recall where he was.
He passed his hand across his head, and this slight
action seemed to make his brain work. Then he
sat up. He was at once aware that something unusual
was going on.
There was a dim light shining in through the room
where the safe was. And as Jack had left none
burning, and as there were no street lights in Golden
Crossing, the express rider at once realized that some
one had brought a light into the room since he had
fallen asleep.
Jack was about to call out, thinking perhaps his aunt
or cousin had come down stairs, but he restrained
himself.
“I’ll just go and see who it is,”
he thought. A wild idea came to him. He
reached under his pillow and brought out his revolver.
“If it’s any of the outlaws I’ll
be ready,” he murmured.
Moving with the silence of a cat, Jack, who had taken
off his shoes, tiptoed to the door between the two
rooms. As he advanced he could hear a succession
of small noises. One was a sort of purring sound.
Then came the tinkle of metal on metal—a
faint sound that would not have been audible but for
the deep silence over the place. Then Jack saw
a flicker of the light, as though some one or some
object had come near enough to it to produce a shadow.
Then, as Jack looked, he saw the outlines of a man’s
head, and the man seemed bent over, of stooping.
Again came the tinkle of metal on metal.
All at once the truth flashed into Jack’s mind.
“They’re going to blow open the safe”
was his thought. “It’s the outlaws!
I’ve caught ’em! They’ve drilled
the safe and are going to blow it open!”
He managed, by going slowly, and trying each board
with his foot advanced, to guard against a creak,
finally to reach the door that opened into the room
where the safe stood.
And there, kneeling on the floor in front of the strong
box, was a masked man. He was in front of the
safe, and a partly-opened dark lantern gave light
enough for Jack to see what was going on.
The safe was not open, but, as Jack looked, and as
he was about to give the command: “Hands
up!” he saw the masked man suddenly spring back
and slide, on rubber-soled shoes, to a far corner.
There was a tiny curl of smoke near the door of the
safe. Jack realized, too late, what it was—the
fuse attached to a charge of nitroglycerine. The
safe was about to be blown open.
And then, ere Jack could spring forward and tear loose
the fuse, the explosion came.
It was not loud, but the force of if blew Jack backward,
knocking him down. His head hit on something
and, for the moment, he lost consciousness.
