The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-18

he got his meals at this time we did no,
know: probably at some cheap res
taurant. Subsequently he was more OF
less adopted by Tony and his wife.
To say that he made himself indis-
pensable would be stating plain, un-'
vanished truth. Jim and early agreed
that if Bob was fired" we'd have to
resign, or, what was equivalent, inter-
view the directors with a view to a
raise. Up to his advent the running
of the banks errands had devolved
upon us, and we were loath to return tC
any such arrangement. Also, as Bob
lived at the bank, he always had the,
windows open and the place ready for
business when we arrived. This gave
us an additional five minutes in bed
each morning and during the winter
this is not a thing lightly to be de-
spised. the bliss of waking up in a
room where you can see your breath
and are morally certain your water
pitcher is frozen over, even when IL
isn't, of looking at your watch and
finding that you have seven whole min.
utes morei Champagne is not like it.
However, Bob had been with US nearly
a year, and had, as 1 say, made himself
indispensable to Jim and me before he
succeeded in attaching himself to the
bank as one of the permanent fixtures.
After the events I am about to relate the
directors would have put up with the loss
of the cashier or Harvey. or even me, be-
fore they would have let Bob go. He's
with US yet, and will be till either he or
the bank goes up.
Our bank is the only institution of the
kind in the vicinity. North one must go
six miles. south twenty miles and west
twelve miles to find another place to de-
post, and to the east is the Atlantic
ocean. This being so, the bank Is I'M
usually prosperous for a country inStitu
ton, paying regular dividends of II and
Is per cent to its stockholders. 1t is run
conseryatively, and is as sound and safe
as United States 4s-almost.
Our trouble began with the failure of
the Tidewater Trust company, of New
York. This bank was our city CORE
spondent and with it we had on deposit
some $4,000. drawing low interest and
available Immediately in time of need.
This amount was nearly fOur-f1 Of
our ready cash to meet the demands of
depositors. The bulk of our deposits was,
OF course, invested in short-time paper.
not available until maturity-and not al
ways then-and some of the assets were
in the form Of real estate, inconvertibIe
except at a heavy loss. There was some
thing like $4,000 cash actually in the
bank to meet 100000 worth of deposits,
and the day when the New York papers
announced the failure of the Tidewater
saw the beginning of the only run our
bank has ever experienced. That 1t stood
the strain was due entirely to Bob.
fortunately the knowledge that we were
badly caught in the Tidewater failure did
not become generally known until after
noon. and the $4,000 held out till we
could close the bank doors at 8. I was
dfsmally doing my work that night, won
dering where could get another place If
"a hqr doc. T
aware. of Bob at my elbow. He locked
more doiefu than felt
s.soh! cheer up said: sit may not be
true. You look as though you'd just been
measured by the undertaken.
He looked at me soiemnly, although not
certain Of nay sanity.
wen pull through yet" said
.Huh.'' he grunted; II amt worrying
none about the bank. Mr.. Martin'll tend
to the bank all right
The cashier was his god and before him
only he bauad asesn-