"The suit cases are there and ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Two of you carry Mr. Verbeck to the dumb-waiter, and we'll descend with him," the master criminal commanded. "Sorry I cannot take you at the same time, my dear Muggs, but the capacity of our dumb-waiter is limited. I'll have you taken below before we are through, though. In the meantime, sit calmly on your chair."

He laughed as he turned toward the aperture in the wall, laughed again as two of his men carried the bound and gagged prisoner as if he had been a log of wood, and chuckled as he saw the anger flashing in Muggs' eyes. The Black Star, his helpless prisoner, and his two men disappeared, and the aperture in the wall was closed.

Those who remained glanced at Muggs, but did not approach him, and made no offer to taunt him. They left that to the Black Star. All except the guards at the two doors and one who peered through a slit in the curtain at a front window, gathered in the middle of the room and spoke in whispers.

Muggs tugged at his bonds for the hundredth time, and realized that he had been bound well. There was no hope of slipping from these ropes.

Here was no broken gla.s.s upon which he could saw the ropes, as Roger Verbeck had done once. Nor could he manage to get his fingers into a hip pocket and extract a knife that opened with a touch of the thumb and cut his bonds with that as he had done once before when in the Black Star's hands. Back at the master criminal's headquarters he had been searched and his knife taken from him.

He racked his brain for an idea that would lead to release, and could think of none. On the first floor of the adjoining building, he guessed, the Black Star and his men were filling suit cases with the wealth of the National Trust Company, and a helpless and raging prisoner was being forced to watch the crime and endure the taunts of the Black Star at the same time. If only he could be free and have a good automatic in his hand--

He glanced at the Black Star's men again; they were not even looking in his direction; they knew well, he supposed, that he could not make a move. He could only sit in the chair against the curtained rear window and look straight ahead, absolutely helpless.

He imagined that he could hear a slight noise outside the window, but it was not repeated. If he could have seen, he would have noticed that the point of a sharp knife pierced the heavy curtain directly behind him, and where none in the room could see. Working slowly, cutting an inch at a time, that knife made a slit half a foot long.

Then Muggs heard the slightest suggestion of a whisper.

"Muggs! We're here to help, but must move carefully. I'm going to cut your ropes and slip you a gun. Hold your arms tight so the ropes won't fall away until you're ready. Steady now!"

Muggs might have shrieked his happiness had not the gag prevented. He didn't pretend to know the owner of the voice, and he didn't care much, so that it was a friend. One thing he did know-it was not the voice of Roger Verbeck. And it was not the voice of old Detective Riley, who had helped Muggs and Verbeck several times in their effort to take the Black Star. It was a strange voice, but welcome for all that.

Muggs felt a knife sawing at the ropes that bound his wrists together behind him. He caught the ends as the ropes were severed, and held them so that they would not drop away and alarm the Black Star's men before his feet were free.

The knife was working on the ropes that bound his feet now. It was slow and tedious work, and at times the knife was still. Finally Muggs felt the last rope give, and he heard the whisper again.

"I'm going to slip you an automatic. Stick 'em all up and hold 'em while we break in behind you. If we make a false move we'll lose. Is the Black Star still below? Wiggle your fingers if he is."

Muggs wiggled his fingers by way of answer, and almost immediately he felt the b.u.t.t of an automatic pressed against his palm.

"Now!" the voice whispered.

None of the criminals were facing Muggs. He stretched his arms and legs once to restore circulation, and then sprang from his chair.

"Hands up!" he shrieked, and leveled the automatic.

Every man in the room whirled to face him at that command. One reached for a weapon, and Muggs shot over his head. Behind him the window was shattered, and there was a sudden commotion as half a dozen uniformed policemen, a lieutenant at their head, tumbled into the lodge hall with guns held ready.

"Keep 'em up!" the lieutenant warned.

Another of the Black Star's men reached for a gun, and the sergeant dropped him. Another darted quickly across the room, and the bullet that went in his direction missed its mark. He reached the wall-and the light switch.

The lights went out.

CHAPTER x.x.xI-IN THE BANK

The forces were about even, and these men of the Black Star's organization whom he had taken into his inner circle, and, in a measure, into his confidence could be expected to put up a brave fight to save themselves and their master from capture or death. They knew how the public regarded the Black Star and his band; they knew what a jury would do to any one of them who stood in the prisoner's dock, and that the judge would give the limit of imprisonment to any declared guilty.

So, as the lights went out, there came a scattered volley from the criminals, who had darted to different parts of the lodge hall. Muggs and most of the policemen, however, antic.i.p.ating that volley, had thrown themselves flat on the floor, and they fired at the flashes and changed their positions quickly.

Again volleys were exchanged, and shrieks of pain told that some of the bullets had found human marks. The lieutenant was bellowing his commands, urging his men to guard doors and windows. In the darkness it was impossible to tell policeman from criminal, and both sides ceased firing.

There came a rush, and some of the Black Star's men reached the door that opened into the hall and threw it open. They were met by a stream of light from the corridor, and saw more policemen standing there awaiting them, their weapons held ready; there was no escape that way.

The light made it possible for the police to shoot again, and two of the criminals went to the floor badly wounded. Others ran to the front windows, but there was no way of escape there, for it was three stories to the ground; nor could they reach the rear windows and fire escape, for the police were on guard there.

They were cornered in the lodge hall, and knew it. To each of them came the thought that prison was better than death-for no murder was charged against the Black Star's band. And they had faith in their master and his organization-arrest did not mean prison necessarily.

"Throw down them guns, or take it!" the lieutenant commanded.

One of the Black Star's lieutenants groaned, threw down his gun, and put up his hands. Then the others followed his example. They couldn't understand how the police happened to be there-the Black Star had almost always managed to lead them astray before. They began wondering how it fared with the Black Star and the others on the floor below.

"Once too often this gang has tried to put over something!" the lieutenant said as his men snapped handcuffs on the crestfallen criminals. "We've got you this time, and you'll do a long stretch each."

"We was only holdin' a meetin'," one of the men replied.

"Yeh? I know all about that meetin'. Masks on your faces, and the Black Star and some more down in the bank, and Muggs bound and gagged in a chair-and you was only holdin' a meetin'. Down to the wagon you go now, and straight to the hoosgow!"

Muggs was not listening to this tirade of the lieutenant's. No sooner had he seen that the battle was over than he had raced across the hall to the wall where the Black Star had touched a hidden b.u.t.ton and caused an aperture to show there. He pressed the wall frantically, but with no result. He covered every square inch of it near where he had seen the Black Star put his hand, but no opening appeared.

"Needn't waste time there, Muggs, if you want to get to that Verbeck man of yours," he heard the sergeant saying. "There's some trick about it, of course, or it wouldn't belong to the Black Star. We were outside the window on the fire escape, and saw him open that, and heard what he said. So we'll just guard this end here, in case they should open it and try to come up. The lower floor is guarded, too, and they'll be mixing things there in a minute; they're waitin' until Black Star gets his hands on some money and stuff. We want to get him with the goods, see? Men all around the block, too-a mouse couldn't get away. We've got him this time!"

"How'd you know?" Muggs demanded.

"Don't ask me! Some tip to the chief-and it sure was a correct tip.

Two thirds of the night relief is scattered around this block right now. Here's where we clean up. By George, I'm sorry you and Verbeck didn't do it!"

"Didn't we?" Muggs snarled.

"You wouldn't have done much, I guess, bound and gagged the way you were-just been left here for another joke. Nope! The police get the credit for this-the police and whoever tipped this off. One of the Black Star's men did it, I suppose-some one that was sore at him for something."

"Guess again!" Muggs snarled. He didn't fancy this belittling of Roger Verbeck by a lieutenant of police.

He turned and hurried across the hall and into the corridor, and sped down the stairs. He wanted to get around to the other side of the block and see what was transpiring in the National Trust Company's building. He had forgotten the fantastic robe in which the Black Star had dressed him, and the laughter of one of the policemen in the hall brought it to mind. Muggs tore the robe off and growled his imprecations, and ran on as the policeman laughed again.

At the entrance to the building an officer held him up with leveled weapon, not being sure of his ident.i.ty. Muggs lost time until another lieutenant appeared who knew him and ordered his release. He reached the street, sprinted for the corner, darted around it, and reached the front of the bank.

Everything seemed quiet there. Half a dozen policemen were standing on the sidewalk, and there seemed no commotion inside.

"Why don't you get in? Why don't you do something?" Muggs wanted to know. "Standin' here like dummies that ain't got--"

"Easy there, man!" one of them replied. "We're doin' something, all right. You just wait here with us until we get the signal."