office door. He tried to keep her out
and called to Dorsey. But she slipped past while the door was open to
admit Starr's bulky form. Inside, she turned on Britt, who was in the
doorway.

"You don't dare to keep me out, Mr. Britt!" She stamped her foot. Her
eyes blazed. "You don't dare!"

He blinked and entered and locked the door.

CHAPTER XV

VIA THE PRESIDENT'S PRIVATE WAY

There was a hanging lamp in Britt's office, and the president hastened
to light it.

"Do you mean to say that there's another way of entering that bank
vault?" Starr demanded when Britt began to twirl the knob of a steel
door that guarded his private vault. "I'm beginning to think that the
fellow who wrote on that placard had this joint sized up mighty well."

Britt went on with the working of the combination. He was deeply
stirred; his excitement had made his temper touchy. "I know of no reason
why the president of a bank isn't allowed access to the vault."

"Perhaps not, under proper conditions, but we'll discuss that matter
later, Britt. Right now I'm all-fired glad you can get in." He sneered
when he added, "Perhaps a regular, time-locked vault does need a safety
outlet. I may recommend it for all state banks."

Vona took her stand close to the door, trembling with passionate
eagerness. Constantly she appealed to Britt to hurry. When he finally
swung open the door she leaped into the vault. He dragged her back,
handling her roughly, harshly telling her that it was no place for a
girl.

"I don't think it is, either," agreed Starr. "We seem to have
considerable love mixed in with this situation, young woman, but this is
not the time for it."

He crowded past her, at the back of Britt.

The man ahead stopped and fumbled at what seemed to be a wall of
concrete; he pushed open a narrow door which fitted so closely that it
had seemed to be a part of the wall.

Mr. Starr grunted.

There was a passage at the right of the inner safe. The light from the
lamp outside shed dim radiance. Britt descended a short flight of cement
steps, and Starr, following groping with his feet, realized that the
way led under the floor of the corridor. He was obliged to crouch almost
double in order to avoid the ceiling.

There was another flight of stairs leading up to the floor level.

The two men, mounting the stairs, heard groans.

Vona, undeterred by her treatment, had followed closely on Starr's
heels. She urged them to hurry, calling hyste