"Thanks," said Barney. "I need the practice; but wait and you'll
see that a diamond may be infinitely more valuable than even the
broker claims," and he was gone again into the shadows of the
garage. Here upon the window pane he scratched a rough deep circle,
close to the catch. A quick blow sent the glass clattering to the
floor within. For a minute Barney stood listening for any sign that
the noise had attracted attention, but hearing nothing he ran his
hand through the hole that he had made and unlatched the frame. A
moment later he had crawled within.
Before him, in the darkness, stood a roadster. He ran his hand over
the pedals and levers, breathing a sigh of relief as his touch
revealed the familiar control of a standard make. Then he went to
the double doors. They opened easily and silently.
Once outside he hastened to the side of the waiting girl.
"It's a machine," he whispered. "We must both be in it when it
leaves the garage--it's the through express for Lustadt and makes no
stops for passengers or freight."
He led her back to the garage and helped her into the seat beside
him. As silently as possible he ran the machine into the driveway. A
hundred yards to the left, half hidden by intervening trees and
shrubbery, rose the dark bulk of a house. A subdued light shone
through the drawn blinds of several windows--the only sign of life
about the premises until the car had cleared the garage and was
moving slowly down the driveway.
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