“ When opportunity knocks at my door, she finds me hospitable. How long did it take me to find Dimmock after I learned the contents of that letter, discovered what Joe McGlory was going to do, and where he was to meet Motor Matt after he had done it? Just fifteen minutes, by the watch. Dimmock—his real name is not that—is a gentleman of fallen fortunes. Wall Street ruined him. He was as anxious as I to pick up a little ready money, and he and Pearl entered heartily into the spirit of the adventure. Dimmock knew Sanders. ”

“ Crossing over into Madison Square, Matt idled away his time, roaming around and building air castles for McGlory. The cowboy was a fine fellow, a lad of sterling worth, and fortune could not have visited her favors upon one more deserving.
By ten o’clock Matt was back at the Flatiron Building. As he came around on the Fifth Avenue side, a taxicab drew up at the curb, the door opened, and a lad sprang out. The youth was well dressed and carried a small tin box. ”

“ Matt had no sooner begun to worry about his chum than the cowboy, breathless from running, staggered from behind a clump of lilac bushes and flung up his hands.
With a hasty look behind, Matt slowed the machine.
“It’s all up with us,” puffed McGlory, hanging over the edge of the car. “We’ll have to leave the machine and take to our heels.” ”

“ From off to the left Matt could hear the pounding of a motor as it took up its cycle. After the engine had settled into a steady hum, the crunching of the bushes indicated that a heavy car was being forced through them into the road.
“All right, Dimmock!” called a voice.
“Is the road clear, Sanders?” answered Dimmock.
“There’s not a soul in sight.”
“Then come here and help me. We’ll take this coat from Motor Matt’s head and replace it with a gag—a twisted handkerchief will do. The quicker we can get him into the car, now, the better.” ”

“ As though a taxicab, minus its driver and running amuck into a stone wall, was not enough hard luck to throw across the path of Motor Matt, he had also to deal with a young woman masquerading in man’s attire. ”

“ While the cowboy sat in his chair in front of the blackboard, wondering how long he could wait for Random or Griggs and yet be at the Flatiron Building as per appointment with Matt, a man sauntered in, looked at an office boy who was just going out with an armful of ticker tape, and then approached McGlory.
He was the gentleman in the noisy apparel—he of the cigar, and the newspaper, and the listening ear and scheming brain. He was playing boldly, for the stakes were worth the risk.
“Young man,” said he to McGlory, “are you waiting for some one?” ”

“ All the inhabitants of the place, Matt judged, had been drawn to the scene of the “arrest.” Men, women, children, and dogs clustered around the car, and proceeded with it as it took its melancholy way along the street.
“There’s the place,” said Hawkins, pointing, “that two-story red buildin’ on the right. Hardware store on the first floor and the jail’s upstairs.”
Matt steered for the curb, and halted the car at the edge of the walk, then Hawkins took him in charge, Hiram looked after McGlory, and the motor boys were led toward an outside stairway by which they were to climb to the “jail.” ”

“ Neither Matt nor McGlory made any move to obey the command.
“Oh, well,” observed Tibbits, “if you’re going to force a rough and tumble, that’s your lookout. Dimmock!” he called.
“What is it, Tibbits?” came Dimmock’s voice from the hall.
“Come in, and bring Sanders and Riley.”
“Wait a minute,” called Matt. With four armed men against him and McGlory, Matt saw the futility of resistance. “We’ll give you our clothes, Tibbits, but under protest.”
“I’ll put the protest on file,” grinned Tibbits. “Never mind bringing Sanders and Riley, Dimmock,” he shouted. ”

“ It is a blow at law and order for such a would-be criminal to get away.”
The cowboy stared; then a glow overspread his face, and he grabbed for the cashier’s hand.
“Sorry!” he exclaimed. “Why, pard, this isn’t a time to be sorry about anything! You’ve still got the colonel’s gold in your safe, and I’m the happiest stray in all New York! You hear that, Matt?” and he whirled and caught his chum by both hands. “It was a close shave, but that message of ours did the trick! The gold’s here, and Tibbits has been done—done to a turn! If there weren’t so many people around, I’d yell.” ”

“ No man showed himself, however, and the car flung past the wrecked gates and bore away northward.
“Miles and Barney are welcome to catch us—if they can,” exulted McGlory, who was riding in front with Matt.
The wind of the motor boys’ flight whistled and sang in their ears, and the engine continued to hum merrily and steadily. There was a good deal of rattling, for the mudguards and footboards were loose, but the motor itself was working as well as the day it had come from the factory.
“Sanders must have gone with Tibbits and Dimmock,” remarked Matt. ”

“ The way you pulled the wool over the eyes of that taxicab man was splendid.”
“Doing the right thing at the right time, Pearl, is your father’s long suit. Where were you when Tibbits went past in the red car?”
“Sitting on a stone at the roadside.”
“Where was Motor Matt?”
“Back along the road in the brush, looking for the driver.”
“And those in the red car never saw him!”
“No, but he saw them and recognized McGlory.”
“Oh, well, this is our day for luck, and no mistake. Watch the road, Pearl, while we’re getting out our own car. We don’t want to be seen lifting a bound man into it.” ”

“ It was the same brusque query which the cashier put so many times a day that its use had become a habit.
“You can do a whole lot for me, amigo,” said McGlory. “Principally, though, I’m pining to learn whether two gold bars from Tucson, Arizona, are still in your strong box.”
The cashier was interested at once.
[28]
“Why do you ask?” he inquired, leaning back in his chair and studying the faces of the boys.
He was a proficient reader of character; as a matter of fact, he had to be. The ability to take a man’s sizing at a glance had saved him from many a pitfall. ”

“ The cashier read the telegram at a glance. Not a line in his face quivered.
“Oh, Jenkins!” he called.
The clerk came back.
“Instead of getting the bullion,” said the cashier, in a low voice, “bring the bank policeman.”
Jenkins nodded and started of again, this time in a different direction.
“Here is the receipt, sir,” said the girl.
“Ah,” smiled the cashier, getting up and opening a wicket. “It will take some little time to get the bullion, Mr. McGlory, and you had better step into my private room and wait. Keep the receipt until you receive the gold. That is only business, you know.” ”

“ Matt stepped over to McGlory.
“It won’t do any good to hang out, Joe,” he counseled, in a low voice. “They’re too many for us. Let them go ahead with their plan—we can’t stop that part of it—but there may be something else we can do.”
“They’ve treated us like a couple of wooden Indians,” sputtered the cowboy, “and——”
“And we’ve acted like a couple,” finished Matt. “Why, we never guessed what their scheme was until Tibbits told us. Take everything out of your pockets, and let them have your clothes. I’m going to do the same.” ”

“ We’re not to do any fighting, but just show our heels. We’re on the defensive entirely—remember that.”
The horse, driven by Miles, was coming at a gallop.
“I don’t see what they want horses and buggies at that big house for,” growled McGlory. “Automobiles go with a place like that—and when the family’s in Europe, the bubble-wagons ought to all be in a Boston garage. Will the motor work now, Matt, or have we got to use our heels?”
The car started. The motor was still somewhat out of order, but gave the car a speed that easily carried it away from the horse and buggy. ”

“ McGlory opened the letter and pulled out two folded sheets. His amazement grew as he read. Presently his surprise gave way to a look of delight, and he chuckled jubilantly.
“This is from the colonel,” said he.
“Who’s the colonel?” asked Matt.
“Why, Colonel Mark Antony Billings, of Tucson, Arizona. Everybody in the Southwest knows the colonel. He’s in the mining business, the colonel is, and he tells me that I’m on the ragged edge of dropping into a fortune.”
A man of forty, rather “loudly” dressed, was seated behind the boys, smoking and reading a newspaper. ”

“ Let’s get a flying machine from this man in the Flatiron Building, and ‘do’ the town from overhead. We can roost on top of the Statue of Liberty, see how Grant’s Tomb looks from the clouds, scrape the top of the Singer Building, give the Metropolitan——”
“That’s a dream,” laughed Matt. “It will be a long time before there’s much flying done over the city of New York. I’m going to see if we have any mail. After that, we’ll get a car and start for downtown.”
McGlory sat back in his chair and waited while his chum disappeared in the crowd. When Matt got back, he showed his comrade a letter. ”

“ You boys are safely bottled up here. Dimmock and I and Pearl and the other young fellow go back to New York to-night. Some time to-morrow, before the bank closes, we will have secured the bullion. You boys will be here, and the rest of us will be—where you can never find us.”
“It’s a pretty small stake to run such a risk for,” said Matt.
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” said Tibbits coolly. “But time presses. There”—and Tibbits pointed to the clothes he had brought into the library—“is something for you lads to put on. ”

“ Tibbits fixed his glittering eyes on McGlory for a moment.
“That excuse won’t do,” said he. “You can’t make up a yarn like that out of whole cloth, and expect me to swallow it.”
“Sufferin’ blockheads!” grunted McGlory. “There, read that.”
Jerking the colonel’s letter from his pocket, McGlory tossed it to Tibbits. ”

“ McGlory got no further. Random grabbed his hand effusively.
“We’ve been expecting you,” said he. “We have a meeting of the syndicate on Wednesday evening, and a letter from the colonel gives your name and informs us that you will be on deck with the bullion from the test run of the mill. If the gold shows up properly, there’s no doubt about our people coming across with the money. But we can’t talk here—some one is liable to drop in on us at any moment. This business is private, very private. Come with me, Mr. McGlory, and I’ll find a place where we can have a little star-chamber session.” ”

“ You’re nothing more than just a common thief, eh? And you live in a place like this!” The cowboy looked around the room.
“I don’t live here—not regularly,” said Tibbits. “My uncle lives here, and I’m taking care of the place while he and his family are in Germany.” A sly leer accompanied the words. “It was only by chance that I happened to be in the hotel, this morning, and also by chance that I overheard Motor Matt reading that letter from Arizona. It looked like a fine opportunity to get hold of some easy money. I’m a black sheep. ”

“ Why, right now, this minute, Tibbits may have his pals at the bank!”
Urged on by his frantic thoughts, the cowboy began hoisting the window. In a few moments, a path to freedom, through the bars and over the shed roof, lay open to the motor boys.
“Let’s make a try of it, pard,” pleaded McGlory. “We can reach the spur track, crawl along it through the bushes, and maybe get out of the town. Then we can hoof it to the next town, drop in at a telegraph office——”
“And find a telegram from Leeville asking the authorities to capture and hold us as jail-breakers,” said Matt. ”

“ Fate works with trifles, drawing her thread fine from the insignificant affairs of life.
The driver came unsteadily through the bushes and stood at Matt’s side, gazing toward the taxicab.
“What was you intendin’ to do?” he asked of Matt.
“I was thinking we could hail that automobile and, if the taxicab was too badly injured to proceed under its own power, we could have the machine towed to the nearest garage.”
“We won’t have any trouble findin’ a car to tow us—if we have to. If the machine ain’t too badly smashed, I’m goin’ to take you on to Rye.” ”

“ The cowboy appeared dashed.
“You might have expected that, Joe,” laughed Matt. “You didn’t think, did you, that Tibbits would go to all [14] this trouble and then leave us free to leave the house if we wanted to?”
McGlory closed the window and returned dazedly to his chair.
“Sufferin’ poorhouses!” he mumbled. “I reckon they think we’re millionaires in disguise, and that our folks will hand over a lot of money to ransom us. The laugh’s on them, and no mistake.”
“Let’s take things easy,” advised Matt, “until we can learn more about the game the gang are playing.” ”

“ A young man, in his shirt sleeves, was working at a drawing table. Matt asked for Mr. Lafitte, and was informed, much to his disappointment, that he was at his workshop on Long Island, and would probably not be in the city for two or three days.
Matt introduced himself to the young man, who was a draughtsman for Lafitte, and who immediately laid aside his compasses and pencil, and climbed down from his high stool to grasp the caller’s hand.
“Mr. Lafitte has heard a good deal about you,” said he, “and has followed your work pretty closely. He’ll be sorry not to have seen you, Motor Matt. ”

“ The station building was about as large as a good-sized packing case, and there was one spur track, running between the main track and [23] the rear of the hardware store, with a lonely flat car on the rails.
“Here’s a go!” wailed McGlory. “Jugged! Jugged by a country constable, just when a telegram might save the day for us in New York! Sufferin’ cats! Can’t we do something, pard? We’re not going to let a couple of hayseeds knock us out like this, are we?”
Matt was trying the bars at the windows. ”

“ In happier days, Sanders used to be Dimmock’s chauffeur. I left Dimmock, Pearl, and Sanders to take care of Motor Matt, while I gave my attention to McGlory. I had to have a car and a chauffeur, but I knew where to find them. Pearl is to play the rôle of Joe McGlory, and I’ve a lad for the part of Motor Matt. They will dress themselves in your clothes, call at the Merchants’ & Miners’ with the order, and get the bullion. They’ll not have any trouble. The colonel has written the bank telling the cashier to hand over the gold when McGlory comes for it with his written order. It will be easy. ”