Their eyes seemed to glare through the holes in
their black masks. Instantly Tom thought of the other occasion
when he was halted by masked figures. Could these, by any
possibility, be the same individuals? Was this a trick of Andy
Foger and his cronies?
Tom tried to pierce through the disguises. Clearly the persons
were men--not boys--and they wore the ragged clothes of tramps.
Also, there was an air of dogged determination about them.
"Well, are you going to shell out?" asked the leader, taking a
step nearer, "or will we have to take it?"
"Bless my very existence! You don't mean to say that you're
going to take the money--I mean how do you know we have any
money?" and Mr. Damon hastily corrected himself. "What right have
you to stop us in this way? Don't you know that every minute
counts? We are in a hurry."
"I know it," spoke the leading masked figure with a laugh. "I
know you have considerable money in that shebang, and I know what
you hope to do with it, prevent the run on the Shopton National
Bank. But we need that money as much as some other people and,
what's more, we're going to have it! Come on, shell out!"
"Oh, why didn't we bring a gun!" lamented Mr.
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