The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-09-25


But g lady bank cashier" demonstrated
director.
'Why not, if she knows her busiuessl"
Why not, indeedl There was certainly
no reason.
s'Then. y went on Mr.. Butler, 81 can look
in and advise her if she needs (which she
won't-and there are you gentlemen to
supervise. Besides, if you don't take her,
whom can you get"
The officers felt the force of these argu-
ments and were still more influenced by
motives Of economy; and it all resulted in
the choice of Miss Nettie 2. Butler as acting
cashier, at salary that even added to her
fathers half-pay, saved sundry dollars to-
ward dividends and in the employment of
bright land cheap youth as assistant.
Then, the quarter being at an end, Mr..
Butler turned his attention from finance to
flowers, and began vigorously cultivating
| Bonstettins and Jacks" at the same time
| Nettie was solemnly notified of her cleo
ton, more solemnly indicted into office,
and most solemnly given an infinite guam
tlty of instruction regarding her duties (by
| the president, who didn't know half so
much about them as she did,, and on
memorable Monday morning took her
place behind the shining black-walnut
counter of the Baalbec First National.
OF course people wondered and criticised
they always debut Nettie paid no at
| tention to them and great de al to bust
ness, in consequence of which she sue
| ceeded so admirably that the whole board
| of seven directors were unable to find
a mistake in her footings, although for
the first week or two they collectively and
| Individually moused them over as if they
suspected a defalcation. But they couldn't
have, for none had taken place, and it is
| notorious that directors never examine
| footings until the institution they direct
| has completely lost it's own. So after a
while the directors resumed their previous
Of oil gfC nly,
around the fire in the private room, and
| Nettie soon had as complete control as ever
| her father had She showed herself worthy
| of it, too. She could solve the most mixed
up problem in partial payments, compli-
Gated with uneven periods of time, varying
percentages, and all sorts of provoking
| allowances and drawbacks. She chased
| errors through tangled thickets of entries
till they were run to earth and finally dis
posed of in some out-of-the-way corner of
the great books; detected counterfeits like
| a financial Vidocq; and safely extricated
the president from dreadful muddle with
| the Treasury Department, into which he
| had somehow Numbered. Her relations with
| the rival bank near by were no less credita-
BILE; for that institutions city-imported
young man, who had at first treated her
| with superciliOus patronage. was utterly
routed in a controversy about a missing
| check, and covered with the deepest humili-
| alton. Altogether the new official appeared
to be 1.-THE right woman in the right place"
Harmon Curtis thought so, at any rate.
Harmon was an old and very dear friend.
He had been so ever since Nettie and he
| first met on the benches of the primary
school, where, aged respectively five and
! seven, they struggled together through the
| First Reader, and helped each other on
knotty points Of the -four rules" After
ward they had gone in company up the
other grades into the high school class in
| hook kaanino and tha ipt, ocia
of accounts side by side. Then Harmon,
being very poor, entered store, and being
very ambitious, worked hard, forcing his
way along from errand-boy to clerk, and
from clerk to book-keeper, saving every
| cent he could the while, until he was able
to go into the flour business for himself,
though in modest way, with fair hopes
of success and fortune ahead-pretty far
| ahead it seemed sometimes. Perhaps he
had other hopes, to which success and
fortune were but means; it is quite prob
able. Perhaps too, Miss Butler might have
made shrewd guess as to what they were.
Nothing was ever said about them how
ever; only Harmon called regularly every
Sunday evening soon after tea, and was
invariably much surprised to find it ten
O'Clock when he had thought it hardly
eight, and the morning after one of these
calls he used to go to work like a young
| Hercules Moreover, whenever he came
| into the bank to make a deposit, he gener-
ally staid little while to talk-about bust
ness, presumably.
Yet he did not come in often on these
errands, am sorry to say for. to tell the
truth, Harmon seldom had very much to
| deposit. His capital, his market, his profits
and his bank account were alike limited
in fact the only things he had plenty of
were courage and worry. Sometimes the
crops would be so large that flour became a
drug; then, just as he had sold out his
oil
those Western spectators would suddenly
rush up prices and he would have to re
| pleniSh at ruinOus rates, besides having
missed fine chance for lucrative turn
Whatever he did always proved to be ex-
actly the wrong thing, although through no
fault OF his, Luck seemed to be against
him.
| Yes, luck WdS against him, in more ways
| than one; for on certain Sunday even
ing he walked into the Butler parlor as
usual, to find that aforementioned
cashier of the rival bank comfortably
versation with Miss Nettie. The pair
seemed to have amicably arranged their
previous disputes and to be upon excellent
terms, so far as Harmon could see. He
| did not have pleasant time. The talk was
largely shop, ''and although Nettie changed
| the subject several times in order to in
.clude him, she was evidently interested in
Mr.. Bonds explanation of certain business
points, and somehow the topic continually
! recurred operating to Harmon's exclusion
| from the chat. Mr. Bond showed no in
tention Of leaving, being apparently we'll
| entertained where he was; so that when
| Harmon departed, the intruder was still
| there. No, he did not have a pleasant
| time. And, what was worse this tritling
| affair suggested some extremely disagree
| able thoughts. How could he expect that
others should not appreciate Nettie as well
as himself' and what could he do to pre-
vent their advances, having not the shadow
of claim upon her! Yet how could he
venture to attempt to establish such "a
claim, situated as he wass He couldn't
| Therefore he came to the conclusion that
something must be done at once, that by
great risks he must attain great results,
and hasten the slow accumulation OF dollar
on dollar Time was at once money and
happiness to him.
A few days later it became generally
known among Baalbec's merchants that
young Curtis was plunging so recklessly
that make or break' was the sole alter
native for him. Nettie heard the directors
carelessly telling each other how, expect
ing an immediate advance, he had put
every dollar of his capital into -four, pay
ing in draft at thirty days. If flour went
down, she heard them say, Curtis must in
| fallibly go up--as il flour and he were the
two ends of a balance.
Every imprudent young man-very,"
said OLD President Parr, coming out into
| the banking-room. ''How does he stand
| with rs Miss Butler2n