Litchfield enquirer., 1879-09-18
WHOLE NO. 278O

man presented himself, "Well what is it ?" said the manager, turning to him, quite uncon- scious that his visitor had gathered himself up for a dash at the notes the moment the man spoke. ''Who was there?"
 ''It was a mistake, Sir" replied the watch man. "The hack driver was stranger, and drove here instead of to the Royal Colonial"
 ''All right" said the manager. "You may go, Dennis. Now then, Mr. Burton, we will proceed. Let me see, where was I? Five five-two threes-one-One," &c.; and 80 on went until his bundle of notes was exhausted The draft on Rothschild was duly indorsed; the whole were restored to the case, and the case handed to Mir. Burton after he had given up his deposit note.
 .'Of course" added the manager, ''there's the balance of interest due to you, which to- morrow we shall make out when you call, and" #.
 'That's all right" said Burton; but now must be going"
 s'You won't stop thenP You are quite sure ?" said the manager, as hls customer rose. ''Well, goodnight. Take care of the wallet. As your hotel is short distance from here, you may be safe; but if you had to leave the lamps for an instant, l should say, Take a hack Goodnight"
 They shook hands and parted. Burton's first act was to inclose his precious case in small locked satchel, which he then handed to the landlord, and saw it securely deposited in the great iron safe which all such places keep; then he drank off at a single gulp such a draught of brandy and water as excited the audible admiration of two or three men who
 were loungng at the saloon bar. Had it not been for this potent draught, he must have tainted and as it was, he was faint to lie down, being thoroughly worn out and exhaust ed by the events of the day. In spite of his excitement, he slept souudly, so soundly and SO fong that the changing of the breaktast-6ell reused him from sleep, and hastily dressing himself, he went down to the saloon. At the very first glance he could see that something of interest was under discussion, for instead of sitting apart at separate tables, the guests were all gathered in earnest groups, talking | and gesticulating like so many Frenchmen. l. As he made his way to vacant table, gen. tleman who, like himself, had just entered the room, said "Pretty state of affairs this, Sir What do you thing of the news?" 'I really have not heard of any news this morning." returned Burton; '1ndeed, l have but just left my room, having overslept my self"
 "Why, my dear Sir" exclaimed the other, evidently gratifed at finding some one to whom he could be the first to impart the tidings-
 "why, have you not heard? The great Gulf of Carpentaria and Northern Australia Bank the best bank in the Province, has gone | Gone, Sir The mail came in last night with peremptory orders to close so our bank won't open this morning and it is said the deposit ors won't get half-a-crown in the pound. Why," pursued his new friend with a sudden change of tone, ''you are not loser, hope" 1T! O dear no. Certainly not. By no means" incohereutly replied Burton, who found great difficulty in collecting himself sufficiently to say anything.
 ''I was afraid you were hit, said the other,
 ''you turned so pale. So, as l was telling you"
 Mr. Burton had civilty enough to pay an
 outward show of attention to what followed; | but the first great announcement had ettectu- ally discounted the interest of the narra- | tive.
 | Directly his breakfast was over, he set out | for the Colonial Bank, where he exchanged
 his notes for draft payable to himself on his
 London bankers He then repaired to the | shipping office to learu when the next packet sailed for England, as he was now ready to
 return, ay, even at so short notice as that on
 which he had started. He had not gone fifty yards from the bank before he came face to l face with MT. Rockman. He felt, it must be
 owned. little sheepish at this rencontre: but
 no such sentiment appeared to influence the l manager.
 | Hello old fellow!" he exclaimed. as heart
 fly as he could, under the depressing circum- stances. ''pll be shot if you were not in luck
 last night. But Tam glad you got your mon- ey, as 1 we'll know you only left it in to oblige the Directors, and perhaps myself as an old friend. If you had left it in one day longer, you could not have touched penny" | You don't say sol" exclaimed Burton. ''But 1 do though" returned his friend ;
 q and think, old fellow, as you have been so
 lucky, may justifably say 1 will drink that
 bottle of wine tonight at your expense. 1
 think, friend Caleb, you may stand that" l. My dear fellow" exclaimed Burton, inn
 mensely relieved to find how philosophically
 the manager was treating what had been al-
 most life or death to hiu, eff there js a good
 bottle of port in Pelham you shall have it, or | fifty such if you will drink them" | Come, that's handsome" returned the
 manager good-temperedly. But what is your
 hurry now? Where are you running to ?" '1 am off to the shipping office" said Bur.
 ton, "to see when the packet sails for En- | gland"
 ''The next packet can make no difference to you," said Mr. ROckman. ''you won't finish | your buslness in time for her; every one could
 have told you that the Hercules sails to-mOr- | row."
 | :"Tomorrow ?" echoed Burton. 'Good I
 will send round the port wine to o-night, Fred ];
 but at present you must excuse me-" | The tale need be no longer drawn out, as | nothing of interest remains to be told. The | Hercules did sail the next day, Mir. Burton be- l ing passenger. His friend the manager, was intensely astonished to hear this at first but having received hint that Mir. Burton had 1 only arrived by the Cerberus, his astonishment
 was changed to feeling of the deepest admir- ation; and harrassed though he was, conse- quent on the change in the fortunes of the
 bank, he saw his friend off, and over and over
 again expressed his admiration, which, as just | said, was of the deepest, at his tact and ener- | gy.
 l The voyage of the Hercules was speedy
 and prosperous one, so that when Mr. Burton l reappeared in nhisaccustomed haunts, after what | seemed to his acquantances very brief ab sence, few suspected that in the short interval he had travelled thirty thousand miles and saved fortune The shabby Captain never knew what Mir. Burton had done; but he had reason for saying, as he often did over his glass of grog at his favorite tavern, that Caleb Bur- ton was one of the most liberal fellows he had ever met, and bore no grudge against man for owing him a trifle" '''- f' -''
 It only remains to add that the hero of this perfectly true tale is alive and well. and be- longs to race of shrewd-headed Scotchmen.- Ch0Ds6er's Journal. ...s. -... -vg rrg,...,
 Major Cavagnafi killed, at Cabul, was man of marked ability. He was the son of a Genoese who settled in London after the overthrow of Napoleon I. He entered the military service of the East India Company in 1848, and was admitted to Companionship