As Jack leaned against the wall opposite the open door he saw the bandits go up to the electric stage and try to get in.
The doors were secured with spring locks.
As Jesse tried to open one he was startled to hear a gruff voice inside exclaim:
"Stand back there or I'll drop a lighted match into a powder keg!"
It was the parrot.
He had once heard that sentence uttered.
Now he used it at random, never knowing what it signified.
But it was one of the luckiest expressions he ever made, for it startled the bandits and they rushed away in alarm.
"There are more people in the stage!" exclaimed Jesse, who was deceived by Bismarck's voice, as he knew absolutely nothing about the existence of the bird.
"But you counted only four in the crew," said Jim Cummins.