Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-11-18
ARUN ON THE BANK;
o., The Bogus Country Bank Panic.
CONCLUDED

sell, az he vent into 1nkpens room, whore the
Directors were assembled, being turned out of
their ordinary place Of meeting. They were the
six solid men of W est Independence
Well, gentlemen, our trOubls is at hand. -
Brokers about?n asked fat Mr.. Slooum,
almost breaking down InkPen's bed, on the
edge Of which he sat.
Zone" answered the President, {" but 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
Are you certain Of this?n demanded Mr.
Tsnwait, cautious, slow spoken gentleman.
Let me have a look at him, - exclaimed Mr.
Tinkbine, evidently the master spirit of the
Board, small man, neither spare nor inclined
10 flesh, but preserving a just medium His
mOst remarkable feature was a hooked nose
IL was not q fat nose nor lean nose a small
nose nor large nose. But, in a word. it was
a remarkable nose, a cOuntenance in itself
without model or like. Into this protuberanee
seemed To centre the condensed energy of the
entire body. 1t was one of the poles Of action
That nose seemed the one reliable feature The
eyes. from under their cavernous recesses
watched that nOse-the mouth spOks for the
nOse-;he whole body seemed attached to the
nose. This was reInarkab bic, that everybody
remarked It. PeOple said, Flnkb has his
nose in everything, or - if Finkbne once gets
his nose into that affair." or - Finkbins would
soon nose ii out, and other phrases of like
character, when speaking of the Director.
NOOne objecting to the proposition, Mr.. Fink
bne rushed IN the room and brought his nose
20 bear upon the stranger. His first impulse
Was TO say, Pooh, pooh, but he caught the
cunning expression of the half-closed eyes and
into these eyes Finkbine dived, nose and all ;
he travelled through the brain, down into the
heart. along the arm, into the ebags. and
he saw the great heaps Of notes; 60, returning
to the Board, he threw himself into a chair, ex-
claiming
Fact, gentlemen; saw through the scoun-
drel at once"
No seemed disposed to contradict the con-
clusion 50 emphatically announced, and the
Board proceeded to business. [ have not the
space to give in detail the painful discussion
which followed. Every fifteen or twenty min
u;e,, the stranger was apolOgi ised to, for the de-
lay he suffered The apologies were quite un-
called for. lie only responded, "0h, ssrtin,
and continued careful Perusal Of the - Mrs.
yGt Erc0rvfinH 0Nh T0droIs Slorkvlt.r.
This COOL patience only the more irritated our
friends Of tho Board. From IL they became
satisfied of the fact that the mysterious man OF
the saddle-basS represented all the brokers in
ths world, and, fearing no competition, could
sfJrd 10 wait. To the inexpressibe relief of
the Directors, three o OclOck run out in silyery
L
invited the troublesome customer to dinner
Thsrs was one thing very clear in this strange
specimen Of speculatOr. He had the talent at
silence 10 an eminent extent. At dinner, he
eyed curiOusly his silver fork, but said nothing
He ate With his knife, without expressing any
fears rs to the consequences. He declined
wine, but swallowed large quantitic. Of cider,
without edsing In between efforts more than
In0nO'yllabIes.
After dinner. Mr.. Finkbine dropped in, and
Vas introduced The two Directors spoke of
the HTJEy2i EJcqrafiOH, &c, in the most Sc
ductiye style. They brought TO notice other
projects. equally pleasing, but their new friend
evinced no disposition to invest. The only time
he did brighten up happened when Mr. Fink
blns suggested something about exchanging
Niddlebur.h bank notes for their own.
. No, sire - exclaimed HOmespun, with some
energy, grasping the everlasting pair Of saddle
bags. No, 5irs, That'ed be gettin' out of
the fryIu pan into the fire When I've got q
silver dollar in my pocket, I've got a dollar,
but bank note may be dollar, and it may be
nDihia."
Mr. Johnston invited the old gentleman to
make his house q homo until he could be ac-
cOmmOdated
- Ii We could only hold out three DAYS long
er, said tho President, cOnfientially, to Mr
z, after his guest had retired, we would
struggle through. / have made arrangements
think, with the Middleburgh Bank, by which
we can combine our specie, and by its use in
the bank first run upon, establish its credit
and then use Its notes for the benefit Of the one
next run upon"
We must hold out-we will hold out
have II. The first come, the first served, you
know, is the rule in all well-reyulated banks
Very well. shall have a customer in the bank
Tomorrow, who will take up Inkpen's entire
time paying out currency and specie. Wewil
nas rne m mo nf nj
until this rascal will get the idea that We have
a mine in our vault
- | fear that will only make him impatient.
He takes matters very cOOlly now -
= Don't he? Cool fellow. He don't drink
wine1'
- No, but makes up in cider
The man who drinks cider, will steal. /
say, Why not strengthen his cider-hOkus lit
tie, ch -
I don t like the idea-not in my own house,
at least
-' 1t is not my house, 80 1 am relieved from
such scruples. | will dine with you tomorrow
This old vagabond shan't carry it of triumph
an;ly. GJOd day
That night Mr. Johnston retired early to bed
As he passed the chamber of his sleeping guest
fearful temptation seized him The door was
Opsn- He looked in, and saw tho old man sound
asleep, and near mis- bod those Internal saddle
bags. How easy il would be to seize the ac-
cursed thinss-tO throw them sway-burn them
yes if need be, choke the ld-blOOded dealer
in bank notes who could sleep 80 quietly, while
ruin hung not only over Lis own house, and all
Lie held dear, but over the humble hou sehOlds
Of hundreds, His lips quivered and his hands
eienchedi but, like good, and, indeed, in his
line, great man, ss he Was, he dismissed the
fearful thought, and passed on. But the
thought, controlled while waking, took pO.ses-
sion Of the un9uarded brain in sleep. All night
long, the President Of the Bogus County Bank
ing Company Uas running through sandy de-
ser's, dying over vast seas, chasing pair of old
s4dllebags, while after him flew the shadow Of
an aged gentleman in homespun.
Mr.. Finkbines stratasem, were put in exc
sution the next day. The stranger acconpa-
MED Nr Johnston to the bank at 1. o'clock,
and saw Mr. InkPen busily engaged with a
daPPer little fellow, who handed out great rolls
Of nO;es, and received in return great bags Of
specie, all Of which carefully counted,
without expressing either impatience or sur
Prise, or, indeed, remark of any kind. lie wAs
invited into the bureau, and, sitting down, com