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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..559a301 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66081 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66081) diff --git a/old/66081-0.txt b/old/66081-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 16df79b..0000000 --- a/old/66081-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,813 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Vault, by Murray Leinster - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Vault - -Author: Murray Leinster - -Release Date: August 18, 2021 [eBook #66081] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Roger Frank and Sue Clark - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VAULT *** - - - - - -THE VAULT - -By Murray Leinster - - - - -I - - -The window slid up easily–too easily–and Mike waited a long time, -listening, before he made a move. The whole huge pile of the factory -was still. There were no lights anywhere, except that dim one by the -gate through the stockade. Lying quite still in the darkness, Mike -waited. There was no sound, no ringing of alarm bells, no bustle of -activity anywhere. The manufacturing plant of the Whitney Jewelry & -Watch Company remained as it had been before, a vast, still pile of -brick, with empty-eyed windows staring blankly at the night. - -And yet.... That window had opened very easily. Mike meditated, his -little eyes gleaming in the darkness. Then he saw a tiny flicker of -light in the distance. The window he had opened was at the end of a -long corridor, and he saw the watchman walking unhurriedly away from -him. The watchman’s legs threw monstrous shadows from the lantern he -carried, Mike could not see his face, but he could see the uniform -and note the absolute leisure and confidence with which the man was -moving. He paused, as Mike watched, and inserted his key in a -watchman’s clock. He turned it, registering his presence and -vigilance on a strip of paper within the mechanism. Then, casually, -he went on his way. In a few moments he turned a corner and was lost -to sight. - -Mike grinned to himself in the obscurity. With monkey-like agility -he scrambled through the open window, making no sound. Once within -the walls of the factory he waited another long minute for a noise. -Distant and hollow, he heard the watchman’s footfalls, unhurried, -methodical, as he made his round. - -Then, softly, Mike lowered the window. He wore rubber-soled shoes. -His eyes were those of a cat, and his ears were attuned to the -slightest warning of danger, but he heard no faintest sound–not even -his own footfalls–save the distant, regular steps of the watchman. -The watchman wore creaky shoes. - -Like some night-flying moth the intruder slipped through the -corridors of the untenanted factory. All about him there were -smells. Oil–that would be the delicate lathes where precious metals -were worked. Once he smelled fresh paint. And there was that curious -odor of freshly-mopped floors. The scrub-women had come after the -closing of the factory and done their work. Then he smelled faded -flowers. Someone had brought them and put them in a glass of water, -and they had been left. - -Mike paid little or no attention to smells. The place he sought was -on the second floor, in the rear–the colossal vault where all the -precious things in which the factory dealt were gathered for safety -during the night. He made his way there, silently. Every little -while he stopped to listen for the unvarying footfalls of the -watchman. They went on, unsuspicious and confident. - -Through an arduous and twice interrupted apprenticeship in his -chosen trade–interruptions spent perforce behind stone walls–Mike -had had drilled into him just two things. One was the fatality of -haste. The other was the necessity for scientific, painstaking -attention to detail. Therefore, Mike let his flashlight slip over -the huge surface of the vault door with barely a pause. He knew the -watchman would look in on it as he went downstairs. Primarily, he -was looking for a place to hide during that moment. - -There was a door in the room which contained the vault, but Mike was -not certain but that the watchman would return through it. He swept -his light around the room–keeping it low, lest it flash out through -a window–and regretfully decided against remaining. He went out -again, swiftly and silently, looking for a hiding-place. - -He found it in a washroom, and listened from there while the -watchman retraced his steps, coming downstairs again, going to the -vault and throwing the glow from his lantern against it, then -clumping off heavily to the lower part of the factory. - -Mike emerged from hiding. He inspected the vault room with greater -care. He would have to work in snatches, between visits from the -watchman, and he did not want to have to tap the man on the head. -There are a great many systems of burglar protection, and one very -popular one signals the nearest police station when a watchman fails -to ring his time clock at the appointed intervals. Mike did not -desire the intrusion of the police, but he wanted a nearby niche to -hide in. - -The watchman’s footsteps died away. Mike waited to be sure, then -opened the door he had noted. To be exact, he did not quite open it. -He merely turned the knob, and a heavy weight leaning against it -thrust it the rest of the way open, caromed clumsily against him, -and fell with a curiously cushioned crash to the floor. - -Mike’s hair stood on end. In the fractional part of a split second -he knew what had struck him, and he bounced into the air to alight -noiselessly a full five feet away, ready for anything. But the thing -lay still upon the floor, breathing. - -Slowly and cautiously Mike sent a momentary dart of light at it. -What he saw at once reassured him and frightened him, because it was -the last thing he could possibly have expected. It was a man–which -he had known–but it was a man with his hands and feet bound together -with leather straps, and so entwined with ropes that he could not -even writhe. There was a gag in the figure’s mouth, and its eyes -were staring wildly about. - -Mike was still for perhaps two seconds, while his brain raced. Then -he sent a tiny pencil-beam at the vault door. It was closed, -solidly. No one had been before him. But there was a man bound hand -and foot.... - -The light played upon him again. He was a young man, dressed as if -he were a clerk or a bookkeeper in the factory. His eyes blinked and -stared imploringly at Mike. There was some message, some terrible -message, that he struggled to convey, but the gag prevented him. -Mike watched him for an instant in mounting uneasiness and -suspicion. That window had slipped up too easily.... - -Suddenly there was a tiny creaking, as of a board stepped upon. Mike -heard it, catalogued it and had dismissed his obvious refuge in an -instant. Someone was coming, softly, toward the spot. Perhaps the -watchman, alarmed by the crash. He would certainly find the bound -man, but it might be that he would waste precious time releasing -him. - -Tensely Mike swept the walls again. He could not go out the main -door. He would run into the watchman. The one door he had noted was -that of a closet. There was another, close beside the back of the -vault. - -Dense blackness fell. A shadow but little deeper than the darkness -about him, Mike flitted across the room. He vanished, utterly -without sound. - -Then a faint scratching sound. The bound man was struggling to -release himself, struggling with a terrible desperation and a -horrifying futility. Mike, crouched down in a tiny book-closet, -heard it. He was keyed up to an incredible pitch, every nerve -quivering like a tightly-strung wire. Mike was no longer intent upon -robbery. One of the first rules of your old-time safe-cracker is to -go through with a job only when everything is right. Mike was as -suspicious of the unexpected as any wild animal. Just now his only -desire was to get away–peacefully, if possible, but to get away. - -He lay still. The scent of books and dust came to his nostrils, but -he did not dare make a light to see. He smelled, too, that curious, -rubbery smell of new electric insulation. There were wires in the -closet somewhere, newly placed. Mike lay still. - -Then he felt, rather than heard, someone enter the vault-room. There -was a door between him and the newcomer, but he knew the instant -that the other man entered. There was a moment of silence. Mike saw -an infinitely faint glow through the keyhole. Someone was using a -flash. - - - - -II - - -Frozen in utter stillness, Mike listened for the watchman’s -exclamation of astonishment at sight of the bound man on the floor. -Instead, he heard only a faint murmur. Then he caught words, faintly -amused. - -“Just got out, Jack, eh? I heard you fall. Out of luck, though. The -watchman was in the other building. I saw him go in. He didn’t hear -you.” - -Then little noises as if the helpless man were being turned -over–inspected to make sure the bonds were firmly in place. Then -Mike felt that the last-come man was somewhat relieved. - -“Don’t know how you got loose, Jack,” said the voice, as before kept -lowered, “but you didn’t do any harm, anyhow. And the watchman won’t -be back for an hour yet. I’ll be getting to work.” - -There was a sound like a groan, as if the bound man were trying to -make some sound or plea; but footsteps crossed lightly to the vault. - -“Wondering, Jack, who I am, or did you recognize me?” The second man -had stopped before the vault door. Mike heard an infinitely faint -rustling, as of thin rubber being manipulated. He guessed at rubber -gloves. “I think you must’ve recognized me when I slugged you. -Anyway, since I asked you to wait a minute after office hours and -then hit you with a sandbag, you must have guessed, while you’ve -been waiting, that I was responsible for the matter.” - -There was a little pause and a slight snapping sound, as if an -elastic had been flicked into place. - -“Yep, Jack, I’m Saunders, your boss. Don’t mind telling you, now, -because you’re not going to split on me. I’m going to loot the -safe–clean, this time, and quit. By the way, Jack, I’m putting on -rubber gloves, but, rather curiously, they’ll leave your -fingerprints on the safe knob. You see, I’ve done this twice before. -Once I got away with a lot of bullion and a few indifferent stones. -That was a year and more ago and everyone’s grown careless since -then. I managed to plant it so the watchman was suspected. He’s in -jail now. And then, once, I fixed up the matter so that a theft of -some finished stuff was discovered while I was on vacation. They -never suspected me. But this time I’m going to clean out the works, -all the bullion, all the stones, and tomorrow’s payroll.” - -The unknown’s voice changed, and grew intent. Mike, in the dusty -little closet, could hear a muted, musical tinkle, as he spun the -combination knob. - -“Got your fingerprints some time ago, Jack, when you knew nothing -about it. I brought ’em out, photographed them, and contrived to fix -them on the ends of these rubber gloves. I’ve run ’em through my -hair, so they’ll be slightly oily, and they’ll convict you -completely of opening the safe. I’ll have to use a microphone, -myself, to hear the tumblers fall.” - -Mike was listening with a curious mixture of fear and indignation -and curiosity. He, himself, had a microphone apparatus in his -pocket, which he had intended to use. The other man had beat him to -it. Mike began to revolve a misty scheme for following the other man -and taking his loot away. There was a clanking as of tiny bits of -metal being fitted together. - -“I rather think, Jack,”–the voice became amused,–“that you’re -thinking of the trap that’s fixed for any man who breaks into the -safe. Aren’t you?”–A moment of silence–“So that even if someone gets -inside the vault, when he touches one of several things he’ll set -off a switch, have the doors swing shut and lock on him, and ring a -loud bell in police headquarters? I suggested that, Jack, and I was -the one who was strong for the bell. I told ’em a burglar would be -smothered in here in two hours, but with the doors closing fast on -him to catch him, the police could get here, let him out and save -his life, and catch him with the goods. But you forget there’s a -switch to run that burglar-trap on.” - -Mike, listening, found himself suddenly cold all over. If he had -opened the huge vault,–as he was confident he could do,–he would -never have thought of anything like that! He would have gone in, -only anxious to secure his loot and depart before the watchman’s -return. With luck, he would have been able, he thought, to get the -big doors closed so his burglary would have gone unnoticed until -morning. But when he went in, he would have touched one of a number -of concealed springs. The huge doors would have swung to, -relentlessly, upon him. He would have been trapped in an air-tight -tomb, to batter futilely at the armor-plate barriers until the -police came. - -He was to get another shock. - -“This afternoon, though,” said the soft voice outside, interrupted -now and then by the infinitely faint musical sound of the spinning -knobs, “I did a little work on that wiring. The doors will work, but -the alarm won’t. The police will not be notified that a burglar is -caught in the vault.” - -Sweat came out, cold and clammy, on Mike’s skin. He would have been -caught in there! He would have strangled! Hunched upon the floor of -the smelly little book-closet, he shivered in uncontrollable terror -from sheer horror at what he had escaped. Again he longed to get -away from the factory, at any cost. - -“’Most through,” said the abstracted voice, outside. “Wonder why I’m -telling you, Jack? You see, I need the stuff in there. Need it in my -business. I’m going to take it, but I don’t want to have detectives -chasing around to try to find the thief. With your fingerprints on -the knob, they’d look for you, of course, but you might have proved -an alibi to make ’em look farther. And also, Jack, you’re too damned -fascinating. I was getting along pretty well with Ethel, until she -met you. I want to get you out of the way. With you dead, she’ll -marry me, sooner or later. I’m going to tap you on the head again, -Jack, and put you in here. The doors will close on you. In the -morning they’ll find that you opened the vault, passed out quite a -lot of stuff to a confederate, and then by accident touched off the -alarm that closes the doors. A sandbag doesn’t leave any sign, and I -used straps to tie you up so there’ll be no marks on your wrists. -I’ve thought of pretty nearly everything, Jack. I’ve even taken out -all the pencils and fountain pens from your pockets. I’ve no notion -of your writing an accusation of me while you’re in there; also I -don’t want to kill you before you go in there. I want you to show -the signs of dying from–er–the natural cause of being locked in an -air-tight vault.... Ah....” - -There was a series of tiny clicks, then a faint creaking. Mike, in -his hiding-place, with the smell of dust and books and new-placed -rubber insulation in his nostrils, knew that the great doors had -swung open. - -There was a pause, and the little snap of a watch-case. - -“Watchman’s due in half an hour. Plenty of time.” - -The voice stopped. - -The man seemed to be listening. That was what Mike would have done. -He lay utterly and completely motionless, barely breathing. He was -queerly afraid of the man he had not seen. Perhaps because of that, -Mike felt a sudden cramp in one of his legs, a sharp, tingling, -shooting pain. He could not run on a leg like that. It might give -way beneath him. - -“All clear,” said the voice, with a certain ghastly cheerfulness. -“But in case you’re thinking that I might set off the trap, Jack, -I’d like to mention that after I had you neatly trussed up, I pulled -out the switch. It’s in that little closet back there. I shall turn -it on after I’ve got the stuff out–and then the doors will close on -you. But first I’ll tap you on the head, and put you inside.” - -Mike shivered. The smell of insulation.... The switch was in the -closet in which he was hiding! In a little while more the unknown -would come in where he was! Sheer panic came over Mike. It was with -a terrific effort that he calmed himself, trying to figure out an -escape from the inevitable struggle. The other man would open the -door. He, Mike, was inside. At best there would be a struggle. At -worst.... - - - - -III - - -Mike’s whole body was bathed in sweat at the thought of himself -thrown inside the vault with armor-plated doors inexorably shutting -out every atom of fresh air. He clenched his teeth to keep them from -chattering. The man outside took on the aspect of a monster. To -Mike, he was something more or less than human. Mike might be a -criminal, and could visualize,–shrinking,–the thought of killing a -man in making a getaway, but not the deliberate strangling of a man -in cold blood, for the covering of his tracks. That was the other -man’s plan. - -There would have to be a struggle, a fight of some sort. Mike’s leg -throbbed horribly. He doubted that it would support his weight. And -in an instant or two more he would inevitably be fighting. One way -or another, he was bound to be in terrible danger. If he shot the -other man, the pistol-shot would raise an alarm. If he did not -shoot.... - -He heard a faint thump on the floor. - -“One load,” said the voice outside. “Two or three more, Jack, and -I’ll skip.” The voice, already soft, became muffled as its owner -went into the vault. “Here’s the payroll. Nice packet, in itself. -I’ve a good twenty minutes left. You realize what will happen, Jack? -I loot the vault, tap you on the head, take off your bonds and put -you in here. Then I push on the switch, the doors close on you, and -I get away with the stuff. In the morning they’ll find you inside, -and the stuff gone. Your fingerprints will be on the knobs. -Inference will inevitably be that the trap got you as you were -handing out the stuff to a confederate. Pretty scheme, isn’t it -Jack?” - -The man seemed to be gloating a little over the agony of his -prospective victim. Mike, struggling to massage his leg into some -semblance of life and to make no noise in doing so, heard the -infinitely faint sound of the bound man struggling upon the floor. -He made a curious moan, utterly despairing. - -“Just one more trip, Jack,” said the voice, filled with a terrifying -amusement. “Then I’ll come back for you.” - -Mike’s throat was dry. He feared that man he had not seen; feared -him with the ultimate of terror. And in a moment or two more he -would have to fight him, struggle with him. - -Cold to the marrow, dry-lipped with fear, his little eyes staring, -Mike started to raise himself to his feet as he heard the other man -enter the vault. His leg was numb. It would barely hold his weight -up. Mike’s teeth began to chatter. He heard the man rummaging about -inside the steel tomb. And then Mike felt a sudden agonizing pain in -his back. Something jabbed cruelly into his backbone, hurting -horribly. And then, with a spitting flash of bluish light, the pain -ceased. But outside, there was a sudden rumbling and a cushioned -crash. Then a distant, muffled scream, barely audible. - -Glassy-eyed with terror, Mike flung open the door, to run. He saw a -small electric lantern upon the floor, its beam directed at the two -huge doors of the vault. _And they were closed!_ - -In the fraction of an instant Mike knew what had happened. Rising, -in the closet, he had jammed his back into the knife-switch that -turned on the current for the burglar-trap. It had closed the doors, -imprisoning the unknown Saunders in the air-tight vault. And he, the -imprisoned man, had cut the wires that would have warned the police -of his predicament. - -Uttering a little gasp that was compounded of horror and fear, Mike -started forward, only to have his numbed leg give way beneath him. -The fall sobered him to a curious, fictitious calmness. He flashed -his lamp on the bound, still figure. Its eyes were closed. The face -was utterly white. - -“Fainted,” said Mike to himself, shakily. “Safe enough, though....” - -He suddenly scrambled to his feet again and ran. Through the dark -hallways and down the steps he fled. He was possessed by an -unreasoning terror. The window through which he had entered was -open. Evidently the other man had arranged it for his own ingress. -Mike fairly fell outside, and suddenly was in complete possession of -himself again. With the quiet, dark night all around him, he felt -secure, and he abruptly became conscious that he was carrying -something in one hand. He had picked it up when his leg gave way. - -He let a faint ray trickle through his fingers upon it. Then he -grinned uncertainly. Evidently he had happened upon a portion of the -payroll. He saw yellow backs, at any rate, with the bills in the -bundle he held. - -“M-my Gawd,” said Mike, unevenly. “That was a shock. There’ve been -shocks all around tonight. That feller in the vault.... An’ the -feller that fainted.... Say”–a thought struck him–“wonder if he’ll -come out of that faint in time to tell about a feller bein’ in th’ -vault. M-my Gawd! Maybe he don’t know!” - -He looked back through the window he had left, his breath coming -hurriedly, uneasily. He saw a faint glow a long distance away. The -watchman was making his rounds again. Mike saw the confident, -assured steps of the man by the light of his lantern. His legs threw -monstrous shadows on the walls. He went on his way unhurriedly, -reached a time-clock and extracted a key. He inserted and turned it, -registering his presence and vigilance upon a strip of paper inside -the mechanism. Then, casually, he went on his way. - -“Brother,” Mike apostrophized the unconscious figure, “I just hadda -shock. Two other fellers had their shocks. An’ now, ol’ top, you’re -in for yours. Here’s hopin’.” - -The watchman turned a corner and was lost to sight, but his steady, -even footsteps came dully to Mike’s ears. He was climbing the -stairs, and he wore squeaky shoes. - -Mike slipped quickly and quietly away. - - -[Transcriber’s Notes: - 1. Story from the August, 1922 issue of _The Black Mask_ magazine. - 2. Typo corrected: “loot the same” to “loot the safe” in Chapter II. -] - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VAULT *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Vault</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Murray Leinster</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 18, 2021 [eBook #66081]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Roger Frank and Sue Clark</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VAULT ***</div> - -<h1>THE VAULT</h1> -<div style="text-align:center; margin-bottom:2em;"> -By Murray Leinster -</div> - -<h2>I</h2> - -<p>The window slid up easily–too easily–and Mike waited a long time, -listening, before he made a move. The whole huge pile of the factory was -still. There were no lights anywhere, except that dim one by the gate -through the stockade. Lying quite still in the darkness, Mike waited. -There was no sound, no ringing of alarm bells, no bustle of activity -anywhere. The manufacturing plant of the Whitney Jewelry & Watch -Company remained as it had been before, a vast, still pile of brick, -with empty-eyed windows staring blankly at the night.</p> - -<p>And yet.... That window had opened very easily. Mike meditated, his -little eyes gleaming in the darkness. Then he saw a tiny flicker of -light in the distance. The window he had opened was at the end of a long -corridor, and he saw the watchman walking unhurriedly away from him. The -watchman’s legs threw monstrous shadows from the lantern he carried, -Mike could not see his face, but he could see the uniform and note the -absolute leisure and confidence with which the man was moving. He -paused, as Mike watched, and inserted his key in a watchman’s clock. He -turned it, registering his presence and vigilance on a strip of paper -within the mechanism. Then, casually, he went on his way. In a few -moments he turned a corner and was lost to sight.</p> - -<p>Mike grinned to himself in the obscurity. With monkey-like agility he -scrambled through the open window, making no sound. Once within the -walls of the factory he waited another long minute for a noise. Distant -and hollow, he heard the watchman’s footfalls, unhurried, methodical, as -he made his round.</p> - -<p>Then, softly, Mike lowered the window. He wore rubber-soled shoes. -His eyes were those of a cat, and his ears were attuned to the slightest -warning of danger, but he heard no faintest sound–not even his own -footfalls–save the distant, regular steps of the watchman. The watchman -wore creaky shoes.</p> - -<p>Like some night-flying moth the intruder slipped through the -corridors of the untenanted factory. All about him there were smells. -Oil–that would be the delicate lathes where precious metals were worked. -Once he smelled fresh paint. And there was that curious odor of -freshly-mopped floors. The scrub-women had come after the closing of the -factory and done their work. Then he smelled faded flowers. Someone had -brought them and put them in a glass of water, and they had been -left.</p> - -<p>Mike paid little or no attention to smells. The place he sought was -on the second floor, in the rear–the colossal vault where all the -precious things in which the factory dealt were gathered for safety -during the night. He made his way there, silently. Every little while he -stopped to listen for the unvarying footfalls of the watchman. They went -on, unsuspicious and confident.</p> - -<p>Through an arduous and twice interrupted apprenticeship in his chosen -trade–interruptions spent perforce behind stone walls–Mike had had -drilled into him just two things. One was the fatality of haste. The -other was the necessity for scientific, painstaking attention to detail. -Therefore, Mike let his flashlight slip over the huge surface of the -vault door with barely a pause. He knew the watchman would look in on it -as he went downstairs. Primarily, he was looking for a place to hide -during that moment.</p> - -<p>There was a door in the room which contained the vault, but Mike was -not certain but that the watchman would return through it. He swept his -light around the room–keeping it low, lest it flash out through a -window–and regretfully decided against remaining. He went out again, -swiftly and silently, looking for a hiding-place.</p> - -<p>He found it in a washroom, and listened from there while the watchman -retraced his steps, coming downstairs again, going to the vault and -throwing the glow from his lantern against it, then clumping off heavily -to the lower part of the factory.</p> - -<p>Mike emerged from hiding. He inspected the vault room with greater -care. He would have to work in snatches, between visits from the -watchman, and he did not want to have to tap the man on the head. There -are a great many systems of burglar protection, and one very popular one -signals the nearest police station when a watchman fails to ring his -time clock at the appointed intervals. Mike did not desire the intrusion -of the police, but he wanted a nearby niche to hide in.</p> - -<p>The watchman’s footsteps died away. Mike waited to be sure, then -opened the door he had noted. To be exact, he did not quite open it. He -merely turned the knob, and a heavy weight leaning against it thrust it -the rest of the way open, caromed clumsily against him, and fell with a -curiously cushioned crash to the floor.</p> - -<p>Mike’s hair stood on end. In the fractional part of a split second he -knew what had struck him, and he bounced into the air to alight -noiselessly a full five feet away, ready for anything. But the thing lay -still upon the floor, breathing.</p> - -<p>Slowly and cautiously Mike sent a momentary dart of light at it. What -he saw at once reassured him and frightened him, because it was the last -thing he could possibly have expected. It was a man–which he had -known–but it was a man with his hands and feet bound together with -leather straps, and so entwined with ropes that he could not even -writhe. There was a gag in the figure’s mouth, and its eyes were staring -wildly about.</p> - -<p>Mike was still for perhaps two seconds, while his brain raced. Then -he sent a tiny pencil-beam at the vault door. It was closed, solidly. No -one had been before him. But there was a man bound hand and foot....</p> - -<p>The light played upon him again. He was a young man, dressed as if he -were a clerk or a bookkeeper in the factory. His eyes blinked and stared -imploringly at Mike. There was some message, some terrible message, that -he struggled to convey, but the gag prevented him. Mike watched him for -an instant in mounting uneasiness and suspicion. That window had slipped -up too easily....</p> - -<p>Suddenly there was a tiny creaking, as of a board stepped upon. Mike -heard it, catalogued it and had dismissed his obvious refuge in an -instant. Someone was coming, softly, toward the spot. Perhaps the -watchman, alarmed by the crash. He would certainly find the bound man, -but it might be that he would waste precious time releasing him.</p> - -<p>Tensely Mike swept the walls again. He could not go out the main -door. He would run into the watchman. The one door he had noted was that -of a closet. There was another, close beside the back of the vault.</p> - -<p>Dense blackness fell. A shadow but little deeper than the darkness -about him, Mike flitted across the room. He vanished, utterly without -sound.</p> - -<p>Then a faint scratching sound. The bound man was struggling to -release himself, struggling with a terrible desperation and a horrifying -futility. Mike, crouched down in a tiny book-closet, heard it. He was -keyed up to an incredible pitch, every nerve quivering like a -tightly-strung wire. Mike was no longer intent upon robbery. One of the -first rules of your old-time safe-cracker is to go through with a job -only when everything is right. Mike was as suspicious of the unexpected -as any wild animal. Just now his only desire was to get away–peacefully, -if possible, but to get away.</p> - -<p>He lay still. The scent of books and dust came to his nostrils, but -he did not dare make a light to see. He smelled, too, that curious, -rubbery smell of new electric insulation. There were wires in the closet -somewhere, newly placed. Mike lay still.</p> - -<p>Then he felt, rather than heard, someone enter the vault-room. There -was a door between him and the newcomer, but he knew the instant that -the other man entered. There was a moment of silence. Mike saw an -infinitely faint glow through the keyhole. Someone was using a -flash.</p> - -<h2>II</h2> - -<p>Frozen in utter stillness, Mike listened for the watchman’s -exclamation of astonishment at sight of the bound man on the floor. -Instead, he heard only a faint murmur. Then he caught words, faintly -amused.</p> - -<p>“Just got out, Jack, eh? I heard you fall. Out of luck, though. The -watchman was in the other building. I saw him go in. He didn’t hear -you.”</p> - -<p>Then little noises as if the helpless man were being turned -over–inspected to make sure the bonds were firmly in place. Then Mike -felt that the last-come man was somewhat relieved.</p> - -<p>“Don’t know how you got loose, Jack,” said the voice, as before kept -lowered, “but you didn’t do any harm, anyhow. And the watchman won’t be -back for an hour yet. I’ll be getting to work.”</p> - -<p>There was a sound like a groan, as if the bound man were trying to -make some sound or plea; but footsteps crossed lightly to the vault.</p> - -<p>“Wondering, Jack, who I am, or did you recognize me?” The second man -had stopped before the vault door. Mike heard an infinitely faint -rustling, as of thin rubber being manipulated. He guessed at rubber -gloves. “I think you must’ve recognized me when I slugged you. Anyway, -since I asked you to wait a minute after office hours and then hit you -with a sandbag, you must have guessed, while you’ve been waiting, that I -was responsible for the matter.”</p> - -<p>There was a little pause and a slight snapping sound, as if an -elastic had been flicked into place.</p> - -<p>“Yep, Jack, I’m Saunders, your boss. Don’t mind telling you, now, -because you’re not going to split on me. I’m going to loot the -safe–clean, this time, and quit. By the way, Jack, I’m putting on rubber -gloves, but, rather curiously, they’ll leave your fingerprints on the -safe knob. You see, I’ve done this twice before. Once I got away with a -lot of bullion and a few indifferent stones. That was a year and more -ago and everyone’s grown careless since then. I managed to plant it so -the watchman was suspected. He’s in jail now. And then, once, I fixed up -the matter so that a theft of some finished stuff was discovered while I -was on vacation. They never suspected me. But this time I’m going to -clean out the works, all the bullion, all the stones, and tomorrow’s -payroll.”</p> - -<p>The unknown’s voice changed, and grew intent. Mike, in the dusty -little closet, could hear a muted, musical tinkle, as he spun the -combination knob.</p> - -<p>“Got your fingerprints some time ago, Jack, when you knew nothing -about it. I brought ’em out, photographed them, and contrived to fix -them on the ends of these rubber gloves. I’ve run ’em through my hair, -so they’ll be slightly oily, and they’ll convict you completely of -opening the safe. I’ll have to use a microphone, myself, to hear the -tumblers fall.”</p> - -<p>Mike was listening with a curious mixture of fear and indignation and -curiosity. He, himself, had a microphone apparatus in his pocket, which -he had intended to use. The other man had beat him to it. Mike began to -revolve a misty scheme for following the other man and taking his loot -away. There was a clanking as of tiny bits of metal being fitted -together.</p> - -<p>“I rather think, Jack,”–the voice became amused,–“that you’re -thinking of the trap that’s fixed for any man who breaks into the safe. -Aren’t you?”–A moment of silence–“So that even if someone gets inside -the vault, when he touches one of several things he’ll set off a switch, -have the doors swing shut and lock on him, and ring a loud bell in -police headquarters? I suggested that, Jack, and I was the one who was -strong for the bell. I told ’em a burglar would be smothered in here in -two hours, but with the doors closing fast on him to catch him, the -police could get here, let him out and save his life, and catch him with -the goods. But you forget there’s a switch to run that burglar-trap -on.”</p> - -<p>Mike, listening, found himself suddenly cold all over. If he had -opened the huge vault,–as he was confident he could do,–he would never -have thought of anything like that! He would have gone in, only anxious -to secure his loot and depart before the watchman’s return. With luck, -he would have been able, he thought, to get the big doors closed so his -burglary would have gone unnoticed until morning. But when he went in, -he would have touched one of a number of concealed springs. The huge -doors would have swung to, relentlessly, upon him. He would have been -trapped in an air-tight tomb, to batter futilely at the armor-plate -barriers until the police came.</p> - -<p>He was to get another shock.</p> - -<p>“This afternoon, though,” said the soft voice outside, interrupted -now and then by the infinitely faint musical sound of the spinning -knobs, “I did a little work on that wiring. The doors will work, but the -alarm won’t. The police will not be notified that a burglar is caught in -the vault.”</p> - -<p>Sweat came out, cold and clammy, on Mike’s skin. He would have been -caught in there! He would have strangled! Hunched upon the floor of the -smelly little book-closet, he shivered in uncontrollable terror from -sheer horror at what he had escaped. Again he longed to get away from -the factory, at any cost.</p> - -<p>“’Most through,” said the abstracted voice, outside. “Wonder why I’m -telling you, Jack? You see, I need the stuff in there. Need it in my -business. I’m going to take it, but I don’t want to have detectives -chasing around to try to find the thief. With your fingerprints on the -knob, they’d look for you, of course, but you might have proved an alibi -to make ’em look farther. And also, Jack, you’re too damned fascinating. -I was getting along pretty well with Ethel, until she met you. I want to -get you out of the way. With you dead, she’ll marry me, sooner or later. -I’m going to tap you on the head again, Jack, and put you in here. The -doors will close on you. In the morning they’ll find that you opened the -vault, passed out quite a lot of stuff to a confederate, and then by -accident touched off the alarm that closes the doors. A sandbag doesn’t -leave any sign, and I used straps to tie you up so there’ll be no marks -on your wrists. I’ve thought of pretty nearly everything, Jack. I’ve -even taken out all the pencils and fountain pens from your pockets. I’ve -no notion of your writing an accusation of me while you’re in there; -also I don’t want to kill you before you go in there. I want you to show -the signs of dying from–er–the natural cause of being locked in an -air-tight vault.... Ah....”</p> - -<p>There was a series of tiny clicks, then a faint creaking. Mike, in -his hiding-place, with the smell of dust and books and new-placed rubber -insulation in his nostrils, knew that the great doors had swung -open.</p> - -<p>There was a pause, and the little snap of a watch-case.</p> - -<p>“Watchman’s due in half an hour. Plenty of time.”</p> - -<p>The voice stopped.</p> - -<p>The man seemed to be listening. That was what Mike would have done. -He lay utterly and completely motionless, barely breathing. He was -queerly afraid of the man he had not seen. Perhaps because of that, Mike -felt a sudden cramp in one of his legs, a sharp, tingling, shooting -pain. He could not run on a leg like that. It might give way beneath -him.</p> - -<p>“All clear,” said the voice, with a certain ghastly cheerfulness. -“But in case you’re thinking that I might set off the trap, Jack, I’d -like to mention that after I had you neatly trussed up, I pulled out the -switch. It’s in that little closet back there. I shall turn it on after -I’ve got the stuff out–and then the doors will close on you. But first -I’ll tap you on the head, and put you inside.”</p> - -<p>Mike shivered. The smell of insulation.... The switch was in the closet -in which he was hiding! In a little while more the unknown would come in -where he was! Sheer panic came over Mike. It was with a terrific effort -that he calmed himself, trying to figure out an escape from the -inevitable struggle. The other man would open the door. He, Mike, was -inside. At best there would be a struggle. At worst....</p> - -<h2>III</h2> - -<p>Mike’s whole body was bathed in sweat at the thought of himself -thrown inside the vault with armor-plated doors inexorably shutting out -every atom of fresh air. He clenched his teeth to keep them from -chattering. The man outside took on the aspect of a monster. To Mike, he -was something more or less than human. Mike might be a criminal, and -could visualize,–shrinking,–the thought of killing a man in making a -getaway, but not the deliberate strangling of a man in cold blood, for -the covering of his tracks. That was the other man’s plan.</p> - -<p>There would have to be a struggle, a fight of some sort. Mike’s leg -throbbed horribly. He doubted that it would support his weight. And in -an instant or two more he would inevitably be fighting. One way or -another, he was bound to be in terrible danger. If he shot the other -man, the pistol-shot would raise an alarm. If he did not shoot....</p> - -<p>He heard a faint thump on the floor.</p> - -<p>“One load,” said the voice outside. “Two or three more, Jack, and -I’ll skip.” The voice, already soft, became muffled as its owner went -into the vault. “Here’s the payroll. Nice packet, in itself. I’ve a good -twenty minutes left. You realize what will happen, Jack? I loot the -vault, tap you on the head, take off your bonds and put you in here. -Then I push on the switch, the doors close on you, and I get away with -the stuff. In the morning they’ll find you inside, and the stuff gone. -Your fingerprints will be on the knobs. Inference will inevitably be -that the trap got you as you were handing out the stuff to a -confederate. Pretty scheme, isn’t it Jack?”</p> - -<p>The man seemed to be gloating a little over the agony of his -prospective victim. Mike, struggling to massage his leg into some -semblance of life and to make no noise in doing so, heard the infinitely -faint sound of the bound man struggling upon the floor. He made a -curious moan, utterly despairing.</p> - -<p>“Just one more trip, Jack,” said the voice, filled with a terrifying -amusement. “Then I’ll come back for you.”</p> - -<p>Mike’s throat was dry. He feared that man he had not seen; feared him -with the ultimate of terror. And in a moment or two more he would have -to fight him, struggle with him.</p> - -<p>Cold to the marrow, dry-lipped with fear, his little eyes staring, -Mike started to raise himself to his feet as he heard the other man -enter the vault. His leg was numb. It would barely hold his weight up. -Mike’s teeth began to chatter. He heard the man rummaging about inside -the steel tomb. And then Mike felt a sudden agonizing pain in his back. -Something jabbed cruelly into his backbone, hurting horribly. And then, -with a spitting flash of bluish light, the pain ceased. But outside, -there was a sudden rumbling and a cushioned crash. Then a distant, -muffled scream, barely audible.</p> - -<p>Glassy-eyed with terror, Mike flung open the door, to run. He saw a -small electric lantern upon the floor, its beam directed at the two huge -doors of the vault. <em>And they were closed!</em></p> - -<p>In the fraction of an instant Mike knew what had happened. Rising, in -the closet, he had jammed his back into the knife-switch that turned on -the current for the burglar-trap. It had closed the doors, imprisoning -the unknown Saunders in the air-tight vault. And he, the imprisoned man, -had cut the wires that would have warned the police of his -predicament.</p> - -<p>Uttering a little gasp that was compounded of horror and fear, Mike -started forward, only to have his numbed leg give way beneath him. The -fall sobered him to a curious, fictitious calmness. He flashed his lamp -on the bound, still figure. Its eyes were closed. The face was utterly -white.</p> - -<p>“Fainted,” said Mike to himself, shakily. “Safe enough, though....”</p> - -<p>He suddenly scrambled to his feet again and ran. Through the dark -hallways and down the steps he fled. He was possessed by an unreasoning -terror. The window through which he had entered was open. Evidently the -other man had arranged it for his own ingress. Mike fairly fell outside, -and suddenly was in complete possession of himself again. With the -quiet, dark night all around him, he felt secure, and he abruptly became -conscious that he was carrying something in one hand. He had picked it -up when his leg gave way.</p> - -<p>He let a faint ray trickle through his fingers upon it. Then he -grinned uncertainly. Evidently he had happened upon a portion of the -payroll. He saw yellow backs, at any rate, with the bills in the bundle -he held.</p> - -<p>“M-my Gawd,” said Mike, unevenly. “That was a shock. There’ve been -shocks all around tonight. That feller in the vault.... An’ the feller -that fainted.... Say”–a thought struck him–“wonder if he’ll come out of -that faint in time to tell about a feller bein’ in th’ vault. M-my Gawd! -Maybe he don’t know!”</p> - -<p>He looked back through the window he had left, his breath coming -hurriedly, uneasily. He saw a faint glow a long distance away. The -watchman was making his rounds again. Mike saw the confident, assured -steps of the man by the light of his lantern. His legs threw monstrous -shadows on the walls. He went on his way unhurriedly, reached a -time-clock and extracted a key. He inserted and turned it, registering -his presence and vigilance upon a strip of paper inside the mechanism. -Then, casually, he went on his way.</p> - -<p>“Brother,” Mike apostrophized the unconscious figure, “I just hadda -shock. Two other fellers had their shocks. An’ now, ol’ top, you’re in -for yours. Here’s hopin’.”</p> - -<p>The watchman turned a corner and was lost to sight, but his steady, -even footsteps came dully to Mike’s ears. He was climbing the stairs, -and he wore squeaky shoes.</p> - -<p>Mike slipped quickly and quietly away.</p> - -<div class='tn'> -Transcriber’s Notes: -<ol style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> -<li>This story appeared in the August, 1922 issue of <em>The Black Mask</em> magazine.</li> -<li>Typo corrected: “loot the same” to “loot the safe” in Chapter II.</li> -</ol> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VAULT ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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