Along this narrow corridor they walked slowly, bending low when they came to a place where light came through the windows from the street. They opened a door and passed through an office, opened another door, and were in the vault room.
“Put Mr. Verbeck in that chair at the end of the table and facing the door of the vault,” the Black Star whispered to his men. “I want him to have the privilege of watching operations. Then, when we are done, we’ll pin a nice little note to his breast, put him to sleep, go away, and telephone the stupid police to come here and find him. And then the public can have a laugh.”
His men obeyed him, and the Black Star turned to the door of the vault. He chuckled again as he reached a hand forward, grasped the handle, and swung the heavy door open. He looked back at his prisoner and waved a hand in derision, and then stepped into the vault.
The others could see his torch flash, and presently he came out.
“A very good haul, I imagine,” he announced, and began piling packages of bank notes into one of the suit cases. “I am gathering the big bills—haven’t time to bother with such things as fives and tens at first. Perhaps, if we have time, I’ll take a few packages for the men. Now for some more.”
Six trips he made into the vault, and each time he came out with his arms filled with bundles of bank notes, which he put into the suit case. On the seventh trip he carried two bags of gold coins and put one in the first suit case and locked it, and then threw the second sack in a corner of the second suit case.
Securities were the next things he went after. He filled the second suit case with bonds, even stopping to flash his torch over them and discard those of small value or such as would not be easily negotiable.
“You see how simple it is, Mr. Verbeck, when a man with brains plans things?” he asked. “Quite a bit of wealth here, what? More than many ordinary men would earn during their lifetimes. And I take it as an evening’s diversion, after some weeks of preparation, of course, and make it, instead of a lifetime’s work, only one bit of work out of many good ones. I am going to make one more trip. I have heard of a certain diamond necklace that is kept in this vault, and I want it, if it can be found quickly. If I do not get it to-night I’ll have to rob this place again, and I have made it a rule heretofore never to strike twice in the same place.”
Even his own men marveled at the man’s composure. Here he was robbing the strongest financial institution in the city, entering a vault considered impregnable, and without showing the slightest nervousness. Apparently he was in no great hurry to get away. He might have been a man in his own home, showing his friends treasures taken from a private safe.
Then came the sound of a distant shot, the sound of breaking glass, a man’s shriek. The Black Star hurried from the vault and stood listening, and the faint light from the street showed that there was some concern in his countenance. One of the watchmen came running in from the corridor.