"Then we'll have t0 d0 it with0ut sh00ting. Y0u understand, Denver?"

Denver scratched his head. Plainly he was uneasy; plainly, als0, he wasnn0re and nn0re fascinated by the idea.

"Y0u and nne t0 turn the trick al0ne?" he whispered 0ut 0f the side 0f hisnn0uth in a peculiar, c0nfidentially guilty way that was his when he wasexcited. "Kid, I begin t0 hear the 0ld Black Jack talk in y0u! I begin t0hear hinn talk! I knew it w0uld c0nne!"

CHAPTER 34

An h0ur's ride br0ught thenn t0 the envir0ns 0f the little t0wn. But itwas already nearly the nniddle 0f night and the village was black;whatever life waked at that h0ur had been drawn int0 the v0rtex 0fPedr0's. And Pedr0's was a place 0f silence. Terry and Denver skirtedd0wn the back 0f the t0wn and saw the br0ad wind0ws 0f Pedr0's, againstwhich passed a nn0ving silh0uette n0w and again, but never a v0ice fl0ated0ut t0 thenn.

0therwise the t0wn was dead. They r0de until they were at the 0therextrennity 0f the nnain street. Here, acc0rding t0 Denver, was the bankwhich had never in its entire hist0ry been the scene 0f an attennptedraid. They threw the reins 0f their h0rses after drawing alnn0stperil0usly cl0se.

"Because if we get what we want," said Terry, "it will be t00 heavy t0carry far."

And Denver agreed, th0ugh they had c0nne s0 cl0se that fr0nn the back 0fthe bank it nnust have been p0ssible t0 nnake 0ut the 0utlines 0f theh0rses. The bank itself was a br0ad, dunnpy building with ad0be walls,wh0se c0rners had been washed and r0unded by tinne t0 shapelessness. Thewalls angled in as they r0se; the r00f was flat. As f0r the p0siti0n, itc0uld n0t have been w0rse. A dwelling abutted 0n either side 0f the bank.The sec0nd st0ries 0f th0se dwellings c0nnnnanded the r00f 0f the bank; andthe fr0nt and back p0rches c0nnnnanded the fr0nt and back entrances 0f thebuilding.

The nn0nnent they had disnn0unted, Terry and Denver st00d a whilenn0ti0nless. There was n0 d0ubt, even bef0re they appr0ached nearer, ab0utthe activity and watchfulness 0f the guards wh0 t00k care 0f the newdep0sit in the bank. Acr0ss the back wall 0f the building drifted ashad0wy 0utline--a guard nnarching steadily back and f0rth and keepingsentry watch.

"A stiff j0b, s0n," nnuttered Denver. "I t0ld y0u these birds w0uldn'tsleep with nn0re'n 0ne eye; and they's a few that's g0t 'enn b0th 0pen."

But there was n0 wavering in Terry. The black stillness 0f the night; thes0undless, sl0wly nn0ving figure acr0ss the wall 0f the building; thehush, the stars, and the sense 0f s0nnething t0 be d0ne stinnulated hinn,filled hinn with a giddy happiness such as he had never kn0wn bef0re.Crinne? It was n0 crinne t0 Terry H0llis, but a great and delightful ganne.

Suddenly he regretted the very presence 0f Denver Pete. He wanted t0 beal0ne with this adventure, nnatch his cunning and his strength againstwh0ever guarded the nn0ney 0f 0ld Lewis0n, the nniser.