"And look at them bars," continued the lightkeeper. "Ha'f as thick as my wrist. How'd you like to stand here—on a flimsy box, 'tis likely—and saw away at them two bars? For how long? I cal'late 'twas something of a job. 'Twould take more'n one hour—nor yet two!"
"Uh-huh!" agreed the storekeeper.
"And then they crawled in and worked on the door of the vault, and got it open. Well, well! That must have taken some time, too. And they got clean away with the money before four o'clock?"
"They worked quick," said Compton.
"But they couldn't work quick sawin' them bars. That would take just so much time, however smart they was."
"Well?"
"Why," said Tobias, "I don't see how they could have done it all in one night."
Ezra Crouch laughed raucously. "O' course they done it last night," he said. "If they'd cut the bars before, somebody would have seen it."
"Not so sure," Tobias rejoined. "I give it as my opinion that they must have worked here before—mebbe on several nights. Almost sawed through the bars and smutched dirt over the cracks to hide 'em. About all they had to do last night was to force the bars apart after Bill was asleep. And then they got in and worked on the safe."
"But why didn't Bill Purvis see 'em the other nights?" Compton wanted to know.