The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-12-05

ri do mot caro- for wealth, sir; only ask
ed for your daughter. ! am young and
willing to work for her support 's'
sYou do ~ care for wealth. and will mo-
doubt be quite abls TO accumulate II when
you do. hut my daughter has been bred 70
other habits and expectations Il s
Let 10 hope otherwise. Let me assist
you, sir. Ceftainly, We can weather this
storm il cannot Do % bad q you seem to
anticipats.'
Il cannot tell. A run upon my bank at
this time would ruin u. By my pledges !
neighborhood but what has secured me at
home, courts speculation abroad. ] am in
hourly dread Of those brokers'
At this moment the boy from the bank
broke into the room quite pale and ont Of
breath. He exclaimed
They're come, SIR
sAs l expected was the quiet response.
Say to Mr.. Inkpen that viii be with him
in moment and seixing his hat, he hast
ened to the bank. rs
The stage entered West Independence
from towards tho city, and about noon of
the morning we mention, this rough rolling
conveyance, turned out one passenger at
the sbsld Eagls.' He was . tail, slender
man, of about sixty years, dressed in home-
spun, with singularly mixed expression of
shrewdness and simplicity, rather puzzling
to a student of human nature. He asked
for the Bogus County Banking House, and
with . well-stuffed, old fashioned pair of
leather saddle bags on his arm, sought the
institution inquired for. lt sEl j. ss34ie6ETg
MIR. Inkpen, assisted by two clerks, behind
mahogany counters, was very busy doing
nothing. The tall stranger approached the
clerk. fi gota a3t lrsa 80. 9iFiihsai
sDo you pay specie for your notes here p
! Certainly, SIR was tho response. saa
Mr.. Inkpen, q cool, methodical business
man obeyed orders. He had been directed,
on the appearance Of any stranger demand
ing specie for notes, to at once summon the
President and Directors. Mr.. Inkpen, -
said obeyed orders. He had NO opinions,
and of course no judgment of his own, but
understood his routine, and followed it
faithfully. t.s .s...zs frss. ~
On one occasion, when desperate fight
happened in the bank, MIR. Inkpen, although
chairs were broken and pistols were explod-
ed, never raised his head from tho ledgor or
ceased his employment. When remonstra.
ted with afterwards, he only said that had
he been called upon by Mr.. Johnston, and or
dered to interfere, he should have done so
with due diligence. -
Mr.. Inkpen handed the stranger chair
over the counter, begged him to be seated,
whispered to the runner to bring the Presi-
ident at once, and then quietly resumed his
writing. w.. .s.l,-. -.
Mr.. johnson hurried to the bank. He
found the stranger slowly tanning himself
with his broad brimmed hat, while seated
in the chair that Mr.. Inkpen had furnished
him. -
sYou have some notes for which you de-
sire the specie said the President, eyeing
the old man carefully. ......s-.--..,.,.
'Yes, small amount. Banks are Dustin
up jist at this time so numerous and promis-
cuous like, it is rather dangerous to have
any stuff on hand.' .'f55.s -as
Mr.. johnson examined the applicant more
closely, on the delivery Of this rough speech.
The shrewd expression that accompanied it
was not lost. He overdoes his disguise,
thought Mr.. Johnston. Internal scoundrel,
ha wants to draw me on with his small
amount and the President looked at the
well-stuffed saddle bags with intense disgust.
Eyes, sir, you are quite right. We are in
the midst of commercial crisis, and Hcav-
en- only knows when it will end. But, sir,
go far as our institution is concerned, that
we do bushes on 80 cautious and safe prin-
ciple, that we consider ourselves quite an
exception, sir. Would you like to walk into
the bureau, and examine the character and
condition of our bank? Our Cashier will
be at your service in few moments, sir.'
Don't care ef do,' was the response |;
and homespun, with the eternal pair of sad
die bags, to which he clung with significant
closeness, was ushered into the Handsomely
fitted up room, where, round mahogany
centre table, the Directors were in the habit
of celebrating over the affairs of the bank.
Seating him in well-stuffed arm chair, the
President opened book after book, and in q
short space Of time, succeeded, or appeared
to succeed, in mystifying completely the ap-
plicant for specie. While thus engaged, one
Of the clerks, entering the room, whispered
to Mr.. Johnston. -..-...
sWill you excuse me few moments?'
have some important bushes with the Board.
You can continue an examination of these
matters, if they interest you. Oh! here is q
little address of mine on the 'Muskrat Exca-
vation and Tadpole Slackwater.' Suppose
you dip into that. The Cashier will attend
to your business directly. s-. ,syss
90! sartin; don't mind me, can wait ,
sCool as Satan,' said Mr.. Johnston to him
self, as he went into Inkpen's room, where
the Directors were assembled, being turned
out of their ordinary place Of meeting
They were the six solid men Of West Inde-
pendence. .-,...
well, gentlemen, our trouble is now at
hands, 49, s' a0 ES.- -r.- . IA
brokers about?' asked fat Mr.. Slocum
almost breaking down lnkpen's bed, on the
edge of which he sat. - -.
sOne,' answered the President, sbut he
evidently represents the whole tribe. He
has taken extraordinary pains to disguise
himself, and evidently seeks by this means
to draw us on, and little by little secure our
specie before we are forced to close.'
sAre you certain of this p demanded Mr..
Tenwait, a cautious, slow spoken gentleman.
Let me have look at him exclaimed Mr..
Finkbine, evidently the master spirit of the
Board, small man, neither spare nor in.
clined to flesh, but preserving just medi-
um. His most remarkable feature was a
hooked nose. It was not fat nose nor a
large nose. But, in word, it was re-
markable nose, countenance within itself,
without model or like. Into this p-otuber-
ance seemed to centre the condensed energy
Of the entire body. 1t was one of the poles
of action. That nose seemed the one relia-
bic feature. The eyes from under their
cavernous recesses watched that nose-the
mouth spoke for the nosc--the whole body
seemed attached to the nose. This was 80
remarkable that everybody remarked it,
People said, sFinkbine has his nose in every
thing,' or sf Finkbine onces gets his nose
into that affair." or sFinkbine would soon
nose it OUT and other phrases Of like char
acter, when speaking Of the Director.
No one objecting to the proposition, Mr..
Finkbine rushed into the room, and brought
his nose to bear upon the stranger. His
first impulse was to say, sPooh, pooh, but
he caught the cunning expression Of the
half closed eyes, and into those eyes Fink
bine dived, nose and all, he travelled through
the brain, down into the heart, along the
arm, into the saddle bags, and he saw the
great heaps Of notes; so, returning to the
Board, he threw himself into chair ex-
claiming:
sFact, gentlemen; I saw through the
scoundrel at once.' 70
No one seemed disposed to contradict the
conclusion so emphRticallv announced. and