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There he dismounted and left his horse standing with the bridle reins dragging

upon the ground, while he removed the lariat from the pommel of the saddle,

and, stuffing it inside his shirt, walked back to the street on which the building

stood, and so made his way past the sentry and to his room.

Here he pushed back the bed which he had drawn over the hole in the floor,

dropped his two sacks through into the bank, and tying the brace to one end of

the lariat lowered it through after the sacks.

Looping the middle of the lariat over a bedpost Billy grasped both strands firmly

and lowered himself through the aperture into the room beneath. He made no

more noise in his descent than he had made upon other similar occasions in his

past life when he had practiced the gentle art of porch-climbing along Ashland

Avenue and Washington Boulevard.

Having gained the floor he pulled upon one end of the lariat until he had drawn it

free of the bedpost above, when it fell into his waiting hands. Coiling it carefully

Billy placed it around his neck and under one arm. Billy, acting as a professional,

was a careful and methodical man. He always saw that every little detail was

properly attended to before he went on to the next phase of his endeavors.

Because of this ingrained caution Billy had long since secured the tops of the two

sacks together, leaving only a sufficient opening to permit of their each being

filled without delay or inconvenience.

Now he turned his attention to the rear door. The bar and bolts were easily shot

from their seats from the inside, and Billy saw to it that this was attended to

before he went further with his labors. It were well to have one's retreat assured

at the earliest possible moment. A single bolt Billy left in place that he might not

be surprised by an intruder; but first he had tested it and discovered that it could

be drawn with ease.

These matters satisfactorily attended to Billy assaulted the combination knob of

the safe with the metal bit which he had inserted in the brace before lowering it

into the bank.

The work was hard and progressed slowly. It was necessary to withdraw the bit

often and lubricate it with a piece of soap which Billy had brought along in his

pocket for the purpose; but eventually a hole was bored through into the

tumblers of the combination lock.

From without Billy could hear the footsteps of the sentry pacing back and forth

within fifty feet of him, all unconscious that the bank he was guarding was being

looted almost beneath his eyes. Once a corporal came with another soldier and

227

The Mucker