The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-16

lHe electric USnt went out with the
click of the switch, plunging the room
IN total darkness, except where here
and there faint glimmer came through
the window from the lamps in the
street below, and the under cashier of
Brown & Browns bank sank into his
superior's' easy chair with a sigh Of
unutterable relief.
AS usual all his fellow clerks had
gone hours ago, leaving him in solitary
grandeur to continue working out rows
of apparently interminable figures AT
last, however, his task was finished, and
he sought to rest his aching eyes by.
gazing blankIy into darkness.
Bernard Strong was overworked and
underpaid, which will, perhaps, account
for the thoughts that crowded through
his tired brain.
AS he sat there in the darkness the
full hopelessness of his position was
borne home to his overworked mind
| What was the use of working like a
slave till II o'clock as he had done to-
| night? What did he gain by it? Money?
No; he had asked for an increase of
salary till his very. pride stayed him
from repeating the attempt. Credit?
No; the head cashier had never been
known to say good word for Strong.
though it was very seldom that he
found cause of complaint in the lat
ter's work. Prospects? There were
none.
He had asked himself these questions
till the very thought of them Sickened
him, and always come to the same con-
clusiOn. He would slave no more in
dingy office; he would go to the di-
rector the very next morning and give
notice, and, when asked the reason for
SO doing, would throw these bitter ar
guments in his face, leave the house
forever and go away, away to Aus
tralia, South Africa, anywhere, so long
as he was far from his present hated
surroundings.
But in the the morning the same de-
spafring answer to all these questions
would come as if to haunt him, you
cannot goi You have no money!" and
he would again wend his way YEARLY
to the same Office, the same high stool,
and go through the same daily routine
Of drudgery. It would be easier to
bear. he had told himself a hundred
times, If there was only himself to
think of, but there was Kitty, poor
little Kitty, waiting so patiently only
till he could save enough, and saving
as much as possible herself to hasten
the day that seemed far off.
AS Strong sat there in the darkness
building the usual castles in the air,
to be dashed to the ground the next
morning, his distracted gaze alighted
on a large black object in the opposite
corner of the room. Yes! the little
strongroom tucked away behind that
iron door contained enough to take Kit
ty and himself out of the country,
where he could start afresh and per-
haps make a fortune. He smiled Bit
terly at the irony of the situation; the
money that safe contained was in his
power, he had the key in his pocket
at that very moment. Why not? Yes,
why not? 1t would mean nothing to
such a wealthy firm as Brown &
Browns but what lot to him. He
would take only enough to pay their
passage, and he would save every far
thing he made TO pay it back. 1t would
not be stealing if he returned 1t. No;
and only twenty pounds, that was all,
but enough to take Kitty and himself
away from this hated city and give him
a fresh start in new country, where,
perhaps, they would give him a chance
of showing his worth.
Yes, there were quite twenty pounds
in gold in that strongroom, and gold
could not be tracked like notes, and by
the morning he could be safe away
where no one could trace him. He
would do lido it for Kitty's sake.
Half rising in his chair he felt for the
key in his pocket, but sank back i'm
medfately, guilty and terror stricken,
as slight scraping caught his sharp
ened ear; the next minute he was sit
ting stone still, his fascinated gaze
following every movement of a huge
dark figure kneeling on the window
sill Slowly and deliberately the fig
ure went to work. 1t produced a little
pencil-like object from its pocket, it
applied it to the window pane, and
four distinct lines made their appear
ance on the glittering surface, accom-
panied by a slight crunching sound;
now a long, thin hand is thrust through
the~ssneat little opening; noiselessly
the catch slips back, and the next
moment a man stands in the room
gazing searchingly round into the
darkness with the aid OF bulPs-eye
lantern.
His investigations appear to prove
satisfactory, for he gives an apprecia-
tive grunt and steals quietly toward
the corner in which the iron door
looms indistinctly out of the darkness.
There was no doubt in Strong's mind
as to the .intruder's intentions, as he
sat huddled up in his chair. hardly