Litchfield enquirer., 1879-07-10
THE SCOTTISH BANKERS
 DILEMMA.
IN TWO oHAprERs-oHAprER I.

l
 ] IN TWO CHAPTERs-cHAPTER I. l MG~Duff, the worthy and respected agent
 of the Central Bank at Tollkirk, was startled
 by his teller, James Hamilton, coming to him 1 to say, just as the banker had signed the last
 official letter before proceeding to lock up the
 safe: 'I am sorry to say, Sir, the cash appears
 to be one hundred pounds short" James was
 very pale as he spoke, and, despite his efforts
 to prevent it, his voice trembled. A stranger could not have told whether the youths agita- l tion was the result of fright or guilt. | Mir Duff knew him to we'll to let the latter | alternative dwell in his mind for even a mo-
 ment; but the lads excitement was somewhat 1 infectious, and it was with just little throb
 thar he replied, "You are joking Jamie" MT. Duff leaned back in his chair and nibbled the
 feather-end of his quill as he looked in the l lads face.
 q was never more serious in my life" re-
 iterated Hamilton.
 | Tt is some mare nest depend upon it, ,' said
 Mr. Duff in tone that partly treasured the poor
 fellow. ''''Have you been very hnsy at the
 desk today, James P 1 ''That is the mystery of it,Sir; we have not
 been busy. Hardly three pages of our cash
 book are filled.
 "A hundred pounds Hm am going up
 stairs to dinner. In the meantime check your
 summations and your cash, and by and by I'll come in to lock up the safe with ye." The teller went from the bankers room to l the outer office with very grave face. Mr. Duff, who lived with his family, as is cnstom- ary in Scotland, in the very commodious house attached to the bank. sent his letters to be cop jed by the junior clerk, and then went leisure- | ly up stairs to dinner
 Mir. Duff's was, for man who does not ob-
 ject to permanent residence ina provincial town, very easy and pleasant mode of life l His work was not hard, nor were his responsi- 1 blities very heavy. He had pretty and con- l fortable home in an oid-fashiened country town, and although his wife lay in the church. | yard on the brae by the riverside these ten years, still he had two of the prettiest glrls in | Tollkrk-Minna and Mary Duff, (besides Jen- ny, the married daughter, who lived in Edin- | burgh)-whose delight it was to make his life ] sunny and happy. He was naturally being known to possess private means, and on &C., | count of his official capacity as the dispenser of discounts aud custodian of the wealth of l the neighborhood- man of some importance | in Tollkirk, and formed part of, as we'll as l moved in, Tollkirk's best society. He was magistrate and farmer as we'll as banker; and l stood beaming behind ''the plate" at the en- trance to the 'auld kirk" Everybody knew l him and he knew everybody; and perhaps | nobody respected him the less because he pret- l ty we'll knew to within pound or two what every rate.payer on his side of the country was worth financially.
 He took life very easy, as have said l making no undue fuss when an accommoda- l tion bill was presented to him, if he knew-as he was certain to know-the pedigree and progress through life of drawer and indorsers To fnG fro l,vyh ployersa as man of prudence and sagacity, who never made bad debts, never troubled them with applications for rise of salary or transfer of agenoy-whose books always stood the minutest inspection, and who, speaking generally, wanted no favorsfrom them. Rath- CT, granted favors, by occasional invitations to visit him at Tollkirk, where there is unsur- passed trout and salmon fishing, besides mag nifcent ''links" for golf, and where the local distillery yields liquid of more than local reputation. The city birds were not slow to tumbler of toddy the best of company, and generous in the mattsr of horses and fishing rods. The chief inspector of the bank came often enough to woo the fair Jenny, the eldest of the family, and took her away with him one Summer day, to the general bereavement of Tollkirk
 The banker did not hurry over dinner on the particular afternoon of which l write. When he went up stairs he did not give a se- cond thought to James Hamiltons pale face, but quietly settled himself in his armchair, after doing justice to his simple repast, to read for the second time the report of his own re- cent great speech at the parochial board, giv- en at length in the Tollkirk Herald, the fine roll of his own-somewhat improved spoken sentences seen in black and white, communi- eating pleasing sense of complacence and importance as influencing public opinion. It was nearly7 o'clock before MT. Duff remem- bered that he had not yet locked up his safe, and that his clerk was probably waiting below for him. He was surprised when he opened the office door to find Hamilton still bending over his cash-book with an expression of deep anxiety on his face, and bundtes of bank notes lying on the desk before him.
 "What, James, still in a fog?" he asked cheerfully, as he came in. ''Not found your difference, eh?"
 T am hundred pounds short, Sir, without doubt"
 Hamilton had toiled through every entry over and over again, had counted and recount ed his bundles of notes, and now had very sharply defined fear in his heart, and vision in the background of his imagination of dear ly y-loved old mother waiting for him at home, and who was ill able to bear the responsibility UCs
 "A nare's-nest, I'll be bound Mr. Duff said, good naturedly, taking Hanlilton's place before the cash-book. Very carefully and with a keen eye he vent over each entry; very care fully, too, he counted the cash, and recouuted it; but only to find that Hamiltons words were too true. The cash was undoubtedly one hundred pounds short.
 '1 think we had better sleep over it." Mir. Duff said at last, looking at his watch. ''The difference will turn up in the morning, you may depend upon it'' Then the cash and books were carried into the safe, and the of- flee closed for the night.
 Poor Hamilton lay awake nearly all night thinking over somep probable clue to the where abouts of the missing money. Never before had he left the bank with such dread on his mind, for he felt certain he had gone overeach item of the day, that he had not overpaid any one to such an extent; and he knew that on him devolved the responsibility to make good any such deficiency. He hardly spoke to his mother as he ate what she called his '.ruined dinner"-spoiled by three long hours waiting in the oven-nor could she get from him ali through the evening hint of the cause of his trouble She guessed, and hinted that per- haps Minna Duff, 'sthe little firs," had Some- thing to do with his gloom, for she knew how her boys heart lay in regard to the bankers younger daughter: but her sons reply was equivalent to 8 snub.
 He was in the office two hours before official bank k-hours on the following morning but no trace of the missing money could be found During the day, all the bankers customers who had on the previous day been paid large sums, were asked to check their payments but when four o'clock arrived and the cash had again to be counted, the balance still showed one hun- dred pounds short. If the money had been paid away, in error, no man had been honest enough to return it. Then for the first time in the history of the Tollkirk branch, & defci- ency in the cash had to be reported to the head office. A hundred pounds to rich man may seem small matter to worry over; but to James Hamilton, whose yearly salary, after ten years faithful and conscientious service, did not amount to one hundred pounds, and whose mother-save for the help of tri- fling annnifv left hv her hand-was in