La Junta tribune., 1908-08-29
Harrigan.
., LULU JOHNSON.
copyrishted 1913. by Je..er Morgan.

the bank might open Its doors aud let
them present at the window the checks
which they nervously fingered.
The scene being enacted under the
great glass dou,e within the bank pre-
sented curious contrast to the almost
hopeless inactivity outside. In the d.
rectors' room the bank examiner and
the president, sat at the long table
scanning piles OF collateral.
AT the bookkeepcrs' desks the clerks
were helping the stan OF accountants
TO examine the huge iedgers. and In
the wire cages the assistant cashier
and his stan We're counting over the
stacks OF bills and the great bags OF
coin. Tile cashier. Douglas. was not
among those present
Tim flarrican looked up from his
desk as the assistant cashier. Mr.. War
Ing. passed
II wish you'd count these he said.
i've gone over II three times, and 1t
seems TO be 500 short"
Waring stepped into the cage and
ran over tn. bills with prscticed touch.
A second time he counted them aud
then looked up.
''Thst Is Just what We are trying to
nnd out" he said TO Harrigan. For
mouths Douglas has been slipping one
or two bills out OF package. 1t was
easier than faisifyinE the entries. and
~ most OF the money was cash reserve
the trick may have been going on for
4 year. 1t was when one OF the pack
ages was paid out by mistake In Doug
las absence that the drst suspicion Was
aroused. asked him about II when
he came back from lunch. He gave an
cxplana tion. but when he did not come
down yesterday morning suspicion was
confirmed. aud somehow the news got
ont. and SO the run started"
"And precious lot OF work II IL
making" said Harrisan GROSSLY AS he
thought Of the hard labor OF the night
before and OF the broken engagement
to take Nell to the tipater. waring
laughed knowingly.
Don't mind about the girl" he ad-
vised. There's every prospect OF get
ting through tomorrow. and you can
take her 10 the show then. Keep an
eye peeled for short packages and lay
them TO one side"
The assistant cashier parsed on. and
Tim Harrigan bent to his work again.
Outside a hand organ grinder had
drs wu up at the curb to cheer the
waiting line with popular songs. Tim
gritied his teeth as the familiar strains
OF No Wedding BELLS For Me- came
through the ventiiators. For mo-
ment he was half envlous Of the flee
Ing cashier.
Douglas had taken plenty OF money.
Twenty thousand from the previous
days receipts were known TO be gone.
What else was missing could be told
only when the auditing WAS accom-
pllshed. Twenty thousand. Just one
OF those crisp bills would enable him
TO get married and set up the little
home for which he longed. He and
Nell were saving. but their bank &C.
count grew with such pitiful siowness.
The hand organ changed Its tune.
and Bascom. In the next cage. laughed.
There's your song. Tim" he said and
softly began to hum the words Of the
chorus:
H-a double r-i-E-a-n spells Hsrrigan.
I'm proud of all the Irish blood that's in
me.
Div a word a man can say agin ye.
U-a double r-i-K-a-n ye see.
It's a name that a shame never has been
connected with.
Harrigan-thats me.
Soon the organ was pushed on to
more remunerative stands, but the
strains kept whirling through Tins
head 1t was a catchy air just then
popular In the vaudeville houses where
he aud Nell sought their amusement,
and she delighted In singing 1t to hlm.
II brought to his mind picture Of
the pariOr In the little Nat where be
spent most Of his evenings. 1t was
clean and neat and had the aspect Of
home. but the tiny dat was small. and
the children overrsn the place. He
wanted his own home alone with Nell.
Just one Of the crisp bills which Doug
las had taken would have set them up
and have left tidy balance besides.
Tim Rritted his teeth at the thought.
He counted the packages Of bills me-
chanicaily, now and then throwing out
one In which the count was short. He
had completed the count Of the hum
dred dollar bills and was working on
the thousands now.
Here, too. he found discrepancies. 1t
was ~ easy to slip couple OF these
notes from package Of fifty as to abb
stract them from the packages OF
lesser denomination. Douglas plan
had been absurdly simple in way.
Tim wondered that others had not
thought Of H. He might have done II
himself with little fear Of detection.
He might do 1t now with absolute Inn
punity.
The thought staggered him for an In
stant. and he leaned uncertainty
against the side OF the cage. On the
polished counter before him were