e indicating orders to his
follower, who leaped to guard the entrance to the room. Then the
Automaton turned to open the safe, making swift use of the remaining
seconds before the alarm might bring interference.

In almost no time he had the safe open, reached in, and seized a packet
of precious papers, apparently. Then he turned and was gone, regardless
of the man whom he had sent to guard him.

In the hall, Locke's sharp ears had detected the approach of the
emissary. Not knowing whether it might be the villain himself, he
cautioned the men to wait an instant. The emissary, coming along,
crouching and listening, did not see Locke, and thus Locke was able to
seize him and with a spectacular throw project him literally into the
hands of the law in the person of one of his own men, who snapped the
bracelets on the astonished thug as Locke, followed by Eva and the rest,
ran on to the library.

No one was in the library as Locke ran in and looked about. He turned
toward the door to the hallway where the portieres were drawn. As he was
standing there, looking about, the portieres moved behind him. Suddenly
they were jerked aside from their fastenings and flung over his head. As
this happened, the ponderous hand of the Automaton descended on Locke's
head and he sank to the floor as the portieres wrapped about him.

When the department agents with Eva arrived, they were merely in time to
untangle Locke from the curtains. The Automaton had fled safely.

Although his head was still reeling from the blow, Locke started to
question the prisoner, but gave it up as a bad job and hurried over to
examine the safe, followed by Eva.

Their dismay was mutual. Not only was the safe door open, but the paper
was gone.

Question the emissary as they would, they could get nothing out of him.
Such men have keenly developed the gang instinct of silence. They would
sooner die than squeal.

Even a night in jail failed to break the reticence of the emissary,
although he had been subjected to the most strenuous third degree.

Not only had his spirit not been broken, but the fellow was keenly alert
and planning a way to secure his own release.

As a prison guard was taking the emissary back to his cell, after a
thorough quizzing by Locke in the warden's office, the emissary
whispered:

"Want to make a piece of change--safe?"

The guard looked about, saw that the coast was clear to speak, but
before he could do so the emissary spoke a