But one finally entered the vault. The others followed. In a moment, they reappeared weighted down with sacks of clinking gold coin. Gone was their hesitation now. The gold had affected them like potent liquor. They were drunk with the thought of such wealth.
In the shadow of the desk, Doc’s mighty bronze form remained motionless. The numskull guard slept silently at his feet. Doc was letting the robbery go forward!
But it was for good purpose. He wanted to trail the loot to Kar!
The thieves were stacking the swag near the hole they had opened in the bank building.
Doc’s golden eyes missed no move. He reasoned they would haul it away in one or more trucks. Two million dollars in gold weighed a great deal.
His reasoning was right — just as right as had been his guess that Kar might try to get his hands on this gold without waiting for it to leave New York by train. For Kar was clever enough to realize the train plot might have been overheard by Doc.
A large truck rolled up in the dark side street beside the hole in the bank wall. Into this, the thieves heaved sacks of gold coin.
At this point, the watchman began to revive. With his first move, he was pinned helplessly by hard bronze arms. He could not have been held more solidly had he been dressed in a block of solid steel. Nor could he cry out, or use his eyes.
The last bag of gold was hoisted into the truck by tired arms that were very unused to anything that smacked of work. The truck was large. It held all the gold.
The thieves piled in. The truck rolled away.
DOC’S impressive voice throbbed against the ear of the helpless watchman. It was pregnant with command.
'Call the police! Tell them the bank was robbed by Kar’s men. They will know who is meant by Kar’s men. Do you understand?'
The watchman started to swear at Doc, but desisted quickly when he felt the power of those great bronze fingers.
'I understand,' he mumbled.
'You are to tell them nothing else until they arrive,' Doc continued. 'Then you can tell them of me. Tell them Doc Savage was here. They will keep it out of the newspapers. And, most important of all, you are not to tell the newspapers of me, understand?'
The watchman snarled that he did. Doc had saved his life, but the man was far from grateful.
Doc Savage glided for the door.
Instantly, the watchman made a dive for his gun, which lay on the floor near the spot where the body of Guffey had dissolved. The man’s fingers clenched the weapon.
But when he lifted the muzzle, no bronze man could be seen. This reminded the watchman of the horrible dissolving of a human body he had witnessed. He got an attack of the jitters. His knees shook so he had to sit down on the floor and recover his nerve.
Doc Savage followed the truck. He had expended only a few minutes with the watchman. The truck had rolled slowly, so there would be less noise. Three blocks only, it had covered.
Doc ran. He haunted the gloom next to buildings. The truck headed uptown. Doc kept pace easily.
After fifteen blocks or so, the big bronze man hailed a nighthawking taxi. His physical condition was so perfect that he was breathing no more swiftly than normal when he entered the taxicab.
'Follow that truck,' Doc directed. He noted the taxi driver had an honest face and frank manners. He displayed a bill.
The denomination of the bill made the driver gulp.
'This can’t be honest money!' he grinned.
'Stop and take aboard the first cop you see, if you think it’s not honest,' Doc invited.
'You win!' the driver chuckled.
The hackman knew his business. He drove ahead of the truck, haunted side streets parallel to its course, and remained behind, where he might arouse suspicion, only at rare intervals.
Keeping to the East Side, where fish trucks were already beginning to rumble on the streets, the thieves drove far uptown. Near the northern end of Manhattan Island, they turned west and crossed the isle. Then they came down the other side. They had simply gone out of their way to mislead the police, should the officers get a description of the vehicle.
The thieves’ destination was the
The truck pulled down the bluff from Riverside Drive on a rutty old road used by dump vehicles.
Doc dismissed his taxi at the top of the bluff. The shadows gobbled him up. He reappeared near the ancient corsair craft, to lurk in the shelter of a tangled bush.
He watched the thieves consign the bags of gold coin to a hiding place. The simplicity of that hiding place surprised him.
They merely dumped the gold off the ramshackle wharf!
THE spot they chose for the dumping was out in deep water, near the stern of the
'Drop it close to the hull, you fool!' Doc heard one of the thieves order another. 'Be sure it lands on the shelf fastened to the hull!'
So that explained it!
Far enough beneath the river surface that no one would ever notice, there was a shelf affixed to the
It was far from what it seemed — this old buccaneer vessel.
Doc waited patiently for some sign of Kar.
Another man appeared unexpectedly, running from the direction of the bluff. He made a good deal of noise in the darkness.
Guns were clutched uneasily. Then the thieves hailed the newcomer as one of their number. 'We nearly let you have it!'
Conversation followed, the new arrival speaking rapidly. The words were pitched too low to reach Doc, who was some distance away.
Then tones were raised.
'All but four of you clear out!' commanded the late arrival. 'That’s Kar’s orders. I’m to take the four who stay to Kar.'
Several loud grumbles wafted to Doc’s sharply tuned ears. But whatever the dissension was, the thieves accepted to the command of their leader. Probably they were complaining about leaving the gold unwatched.
The last of the coin plunked overside to land on the shelf fastened to the
The four who had remained stood on the wharf with the man who had brought them their orders. Several minutes passed. Noise of the truck died away.
'C’mon!' said the messenger loudly. 'I’ll take you to Kar now!'
The man turned toward the old pirate ship.
'Kar is on the
'Sure! What’d you think?'
The men disappeared aboard the corsair vessel.
Little more than a darker blur in the murk, Doc’s bronze figure flashed to the
Shuffling footsteps located his quarry. They were aft. Down a companion, they went. Doc trailed. He had not visited this part of the craft, despite the number of times he had been aboard. The weird vessel was a labyrinth of narrow passages and tiny cubicles. Evidently every old-time pirate had had to have his individual cabin.
