Thus came to naught, for the time being, the energetic work of Billy and my planning for three months. But I wasn’t discouraged--the game was too large. I would not go down to defeat so easily. CHAPTER XXIII THE PLOT THAT FAILED Despite the discovery by the bank officials that a plot was afloat to obtain the riches of their vault, and regardless of the fact that I had lost three of my trained men, I determined to push on to success. It was in vain that I more than half regretted my decision not to “turn off the trick” on a week-day morning, while Billy was on duty, inasmuch as he had offered to take every risk. “But,” I said to myself, “why wail over what can’t be undone? It’s up to you, George, to act.” More than ever I needed success. My men were in jail, necessitating the engaging of others, and I wanted to obtain the Corn Exchange’s millions, knowing that I could, by a judicious handling of it, get them to freedom once more. I prided myself upon never leaving those associated with me in the lurch, when there was any way reasonable to assist them. I must keep my record good in this respect--my fellow-conspirators must be taken from jail. Therefore I continued to scheme, assisted loyally, as before, by my faithful Billy. One thing I was fully cognizant of, and that was, I must not be seen in the vicinity of the bank again by any one who might prove to be a meddler. I might not be so fortunate as to escape arrest a second time. To lose my liberty would entirely undo my careful plotting of months. Thinking how I must proceed next, my teeth came together with a click as I said: “Tom Davis, I’ve got to reckon with you. Where’ll my heaviest guns find you weakest?” Well, I began to train the guns, and I soon found the most vulnerable spot in Tom’s armament of honesty. If I say it was through his pocket, I may be correct, but of that I’m not certain. He may have loved money, but I ascertained there was something he loved more than that, vastly--faro. He was simply infatuated with the game--not with the money he might win. The excitement of winning money was, by far, more pleasure to him than its possession. It hadn’t taken much shadowing to inform me that he would feed his craving at the gaming-table until every dollar he’d earned was gone, and then rise with a sigh because he hadn’t more to satisfy it. He would play at no other game. No other opportunity to place money in the balance could infatuate him. As the serpent possesses the power to charm the bird, so had faro the power to rob Tom Davis of his senses.