The excited chattering of the crowd in front of the bank was broken in upon by the harsh voice of Captain Quinn.

“Ahoy, you blatherskites!” cried the old sailor, appearing upon the edge of the gathering. “Stow that jabber a minute and tell me if you’ve put your peepers on my monkey. The little whelp has run away, and he’ll freeze to death unless I find him. It would break my heart if anything should happen to my monkey.”

This statement aroused some laughter and provoked a few jeers.

“Go crawl into your bunk, you old pirate,” advised one of the younger men. “It would be a good thing if your monkey did freeze. The town wouldn’t miss it—or you, either.”

“Take twenty years off my shoulders,” snarled the old tar, “and I’d lay you by the heels for that, you swab! You talk bold and sassy to a man three times your age and crippled with the rheumatics, but I’ve scrubbed the deck of my vessel with dozens of your kind in my day.”

“Everybody knows that, you old man-handler,” was the retort. “You’ve cracked the skull of more than one better man, but the law protected you because you were the master and they were nothing but common sailors. Oh, we know you here in Oakdale.”

“Yes, and I know you, the whole common crew of ye. You’re brave as dogfish chasing po’gies until you spy a shark, and then you run and hide. What are ye doing here? Why ain’t ye off with the men that’s trying to run down the burglars? You’re afraid. There’s not one of ye’s got the courage of a squid.”

“If you weren’t so old,” said one of the wrathy listeners, “we’d be handing you a taste of your own high-sea methods before you could say half as much.”

“Never mind my age,” bellowed Quinn, squaring away. “Come try it, any one of ye or the whole crew together. You’ll find it a bit lively while it lasts, or my name is not Aaron Quinn. Hoist anchor, you blackguards. Up with your sails, and come at me with every stitch set. What’s the matter, you lubbers—what’s the matter? Why don’t you come on? Afraid, eh?—afraid of old Aaron Quinn! A bold lot you are! You can wag your tongues loud and talk bold, but not one of ye has as much gizzard as a chicken. Bah!”

With a derisive gesture, he disdainfully turned his back upon them and slowly moved off into the darkness, seeming deaf to their jeers and cat-calls.

A few minutes later Urian Eliot appeared, made his way through the throng that respectfully stepped aside from his path, and was admitted to the bank. The door had not long been closed behind the president when it opened again, for Stickney, the grocer, whose manner as he came out betrayed that he was leaving the place with great reluctance and much against his will.

“How is it, Stickney?” called one of the gathering. “Did the robbers get anything, or were they frightened away?”

“Huh!” grunted the grocer, standing on the steps. “I don’t know. They waited for Eliot before they opened the inner door of the vault, and when he came he proposed, as I didn’t happen to be a director or some high muckamuck connected with the bank, that I should leave. And I was one who risked his life to follow Timmick into that place, not knowing but we might have to face desperate burglars armed to the very teeth. That’s the way they treat a fellow citizen who is ready to shed his blood for them. But what can you expect of men who try to run a bank in these days without a night watchman of their own? That’s their idea of economy, perhaps, but it will be a mercy if it hasn’t proved expensive economy. They take our money in trust and then fail to give it proper protection. Timmick refused to touch the inner door until Eliot came. Perhaps it was unlocked. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the bank had been cleaned out of every dollar and every scrap of security it contained. I have an account here myself; seventy-nine dollars balance, too. If there has been a robbery, somebody will have to make good. They can afford it, men like Eliot and Hayden and the others; but I can’t afford to lose it.”

His resentment seemed contagious, and there were others who began murmuring about the bank officials. But, for the most part, those who talked loudest had small accounts with the institution or none at all.

“What have they done about catching the scoundrels?” asked Stickney. “They ought to have ’em by this time.”

He was told that armed squads were searching for the cracksmen, although there had been no reports of a capture.

“Oh, they’ll let ’em get away, I’ll guarantee,” sneered the grocer. “I was opposed to the hiring of a night-watch by the town. I said it would be an extravagant waste of money, and this night proves I was right.”

“Only for him,” reminded some one, “the robbers might have finished the job and got off without an alarm being raised. Likely nobody would ever known it till the bank was opened at nine o’clock.”

“He might have nabbed ’em, instead of running away and hollering like a loon,” asserted Stickney. “He had the chance. If I’d been in his place, I’d potted the whole bunch. Now it’s doubtful if any one of ’em is caught. Well, I’m going home to get a little rest before breakfast.” Apparently it did not occur to the courageous grocer that he might be of service by joining one of the searching parties.

It was growing light and a curious throng still lingered in front of the bank hoping to learn if a robbery had actually taken place, when the door of the building opened again, and this time Sleuth Piper was thrust forth with such violence that he was saved from sprawling on the sidewalk only by the quick hand of a man who stood on the lower step.

“Hello, Piper,” said this man, gazing at him in astonishment. “How did you get in there?”

“Sh!” hissed Sleuth, pulling away. “Never mind, never mind. In pursuance of my duty, I am liable to be found anywhere. Had they given me a little time, I might have imparted some information of tremendous moment. But let them go on. Let them work in the dark. They will need me yet.”

“Tell us, has the bank been robbed?”

“They are now going over the contents of the vault,” was the boy’s evasive reply. “I’ll not forestall their report by a premature statement.”

Some one pulled at his sleeve, and, looking around, he saw Roy Hooker. Willingly he followed Roy, who led the way to the rear of the bank, where at least a dozen men were gathered outside the window by which the robbers had obtained entrance.

“You beat the Dutch, Pipe,” said Roy, in a manner bordering on respect. “How the deuce did you ever get in there?”

Piper explained, taking to himself abundant credit for quick thought, rapidity of action and amazing cleverness in keeping concealed once he had slipped inside.

“Well, what did you learn, anyhow?” questioned Hooker. “Did you find out anything, or did you waste your time?”

“I never waste my time,” retorted Sleuth with dignity. “It was through my natural desire to learn all that could be learned that I was detected and ejected. At the present moment the officers of the bank are in the directors’ room at the rear, going over the securities. There’s a door leading from that room into the outside corridor, and, in order to hear and see, I had to open that door. They closed it once, but I opened it again on a crack, and that aroused the suspicions of Rufus Sprague, who stepped out quickly and nabbed me. Then, refusing to listen, they chucked me outside. I was ready to throw a bombshell into their midst, but I’m glad now that I was restrained from action.”

“What did you propose to tell them, Sleuth?”

“It was on the tip of my tongue to advise them to look for a certain party known as ‘James Wilson,’ alias ‘William Hunt,’ alias ‘Philip Hastings,’ alias ‘Gentleman Jim,’ and furthermore and finally, alias Clarence Sage.”

“Then you fancy——”

“Fancy, Hooker? Nay, sir, this is no case of guesswork; I know what I’m about. Doubtless Sage is as far from Oakdale as his feet could carry him in the time since the would-be robbers fled.”

“The would-be robbers!” echoed Roy. “Then they really didn’t get anything?”

“Right there,” said Sleuth, “you touch the one point that as yet remains inexplicable to me. The inner door of the vault apparently has not been broken open by the burglars. It was unlocked by Timmick in the presence of Urian Eliot and the directors. They removed cash and securities to that back room for investigation. At first everything seemed undisturbed and they were congratulating themselves, when the discovery was made that a package of securities amounting to twenty thousand dollars was missing.”

“Gee!” gasped Hooker. “Then there was a robbery. But how can it be possible, if the inner door of the vault had not been opened?”

In the gray light of the morning a wise and significant smile flickered across Piper’s face.

“There’s but one explanation,” he answered. “The men who tried to rob the bank last night did not get those securities. They were stolen at some previous time.”