Then followed cranking, and the sputter of an engine picking up its cycle; and, after that, the moving off of the car.
“The colonel’s away to New York,” thought Matt darkly. “He’s gone to get the two bars of bullion before the bank closes. That’s step number one in the big robbery. I wonder if Levitt and McGlory are with him?”
For an hour or two longer Kelly was alone and busy in the garage. A tin clock hung on one wall of the bedroom, and from where Matt lay he was able to watch the moving hands.
“If I accomplish anything,” Matt thought, “I shall have to reach New York by eight o’clock. How am I to get out of here and to the nearest railroad station?”
That was his problem, and it looked as though he would have to work it out unaided.
He tried to free himself of the ropes, but Kelly had tied them too securely. In order to work at them to better advantage, he swung his bound feet over the side of the cot and sat up. But the ropes defied every effort he made to release his hands.
With the idea of watching what took place in the garage, he slipped to his knees on the floor and then straightened out at full length. By rolling carefully, he succeeded in reaching the stovepipe hole.
His view was limited, but it commanded the broad doors leading into the big room. Kelly was working somewhere in the rear, and could not be seen.
Matt was about to roll away, when two figures appeared in the door. One was McGlory and the other was Levitt.
“Kelly!” shouted Levitt.