Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-05-16

You must come DaCk also" ne 0a10
20 the girl.
I'D rather not" she pleaded in a
low voice, and it was hardly possible
to have made a more injudicious re-
mark IL she had taken the whole after
noon to prepare.
Renewed determination shone from
the face of the cashier.
you must come back to the bank"
he reiterated.
ooh, l say" protested the lieuten-
ant, you are now exceeding your III
thority. I alone am the culprit. The
young lady is quite blameless, and
you have no right to detain her for a
moment"
The girl, who had been edging away
and showing signs Of flight, which the
bareheaded man, visibly on the alert,
leaned forward ready to intercept,
seemed to make up her mind to bow
to the inevitable. Ignoring the cashier,
she looked up at the blond lieutenant
with a slight smile on her pretty lips.
ut was really all my fault at the be-
ginning" she said, land very stupid Of
me. l am slightly acquainted with the
bank manager, and l am sure he will
vouch for me If he is there"
With that she turned and walked
briskly toward the bank at so rapid a
pace as to indicate that she did not
wish an escort. The bareheaded Off
cial found his anger unaccountably de-
sorting him. while q great fear that
he had put his foot in it took it's place.
Really" said the lieutenant gently
as they strobe along together, "an Off
cial in your position should be a good
Judge of human nature. How any sane
person, especially a young man, can
look at that beautiful girl and suspect
her Of evil passes my comprehension.
Do you know her."
"No," said the cashier shortly. 'Do
you?"
The lieutenant laughed genially.
"Still suspicious, eh?" he asked. "No,
/ don't know her; but, to use a bank
ing term, you may bet your bottom
dollar I'm going to. Indeed, 1 I'M
rather grateful to you for your stub
bornness in forcing us to return. It's
a quality I like, and you possess it in
marvellous development, so I intend
to stand by you when the managerial
censure is due. I'm very certain l
met your manager at the dinner they
gave us last night. Mr.. Morton, isn't
he?"
eyes," growled the cashier in gruff
dependency.
"Ah, that's awfully jolly. One of the
finest fellows I've met in ten years.
Now, the lady said she was acquainted
with him, so if 1 don't wheedle an in
PRODUCTION out Of him it will show that
a man at q dinner and a man in a
bank are two different individuals.
You were looking for plots, so there is
mine laid bare to you. It's an intro
duction, not gold, I'm conspiring for"
The cashier had nothing further to
say. When they entered the bank to-
gether, he saw the clerks all busily at
work and knew that no startling event
had happened during his absence. The
girl had gone direct to the managers
room, and thither the young men fol-
lowed her. The bank manager was
standing at his desk, trying to pre-
serve a severe financial cast of counte-
nance, which the twinkle in his Eyes
belied. The girl, also standing, had
evidently been giving him a rapid
sketch of what had occurred, but now
fell into silence when accuser and ac-
complete appeared.
The advent of the E%nglishman was
a godsend to the manager. He was
too courteous q gentleman to laugh in
the face of a lady who very seriously
was relating a set of incidents which
appealed to his sense of humor, so the
coming of the lieutenant enabled him
to switch off his mirth on another sub
ject, and in reply to the officers cor
dial Good morning, Mr.. Norton" he
replied:
why, lieutenant, I'm delighted to
see you. That vas a very jolly song
you sang for us last night. I'll never
forget it. What do you call it? Whit
tington Fair?" And he laughed out
right as at a genial recollection.
The lieutenant blushed red as a girl
and ~stammered: V
Really, Mr.. Morton, you know that's
not according to the rules of evidence.
When a fellow comes up for trial pre-
vious convictions are never allowed to
be mentioned till after the sentence.
Whiddicomb Fair should not be held
against me in the present crisis"
The manager chuckled gleefully. The
cashier, when he saw how the land lay,
had quietly withdrawn, closing the
door behind him.
"Well, lieutenant, l think 1 must
have this incident cabled to Europe"
said Morton, 80 the effete nations of
your continent may know that a plain
bank cashier isn't afraid to tackle the
British navy. Indeed, Mr.. Drummond,
If you read history you will learn that
this is a dangerous coast for your war
ships. 1t seems rather inhospitable
that a guest of our town cannot pick
Il the gold he wants out Of q. bank,
but a cashier has necessarily some
what narrow views on the subject. l
was just about to apologize to Miss