The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1908-02-19
narrlgan.
BY LULU JOHNSON.
Copyrighted. 1908. by lesser Morgan.

only the long, single file OF depositors
waiting patiently In the faint hope that
the bank might open its doors and let
them present at the windowsthe checks
which they nervously fingered.
The scene being enacted under the
great glass dome within the bank pre-
scented 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 bookkeepers' desks the clerks
were helping the staff of accountants
to examine the huge iedgers. and in
the wire cages the assistant cashier
and his staff were counting over the
stacks of bills and the great bags Of
coin The cashier. Douglas. was not
among those present.
Tim Harrigan looked up from his
desk as the assistant cashier. Mr.. War
Ing, passed.
"a wish you'd count these" he said.
1--WE gone over 1t three times. and 1t
seems to be $500 Short
Warning stepped into the cage and
run over the bills with practiced touch.
A second time he counted them and
then looked up.
THAT is just what we are trying 10
find out" he said to Harrigan. For
months Douglas has been slipping one
or two bills out of n package. 1t was
easier than classifying the entries. and
as most Of the money was cash reserve
the trick may have been going on for
year. 1t was when one of the pack.
ages was paid out by mistake In Doug
las absence that the first suspicion was
aroused. | asked him about II when
he came back from lunch He gave an
explanation, but when he did not come
down yesterday morning suspicion was
confirmed. and somehow the news got
out. and so the run started
''And n precious lot of work II Is
making" said Harrigan Grossly as he
thought of the hard labor of the night
before and of the broken engagement
to take Nell to the theater Warlng
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 to the show then. Keep an
eye peeled for short packages and lay
them to one side"
The assistant cashier passed OH, and
Tim Harrigan bent to his work again
Outside hand organ grinder hat
drawn up at the curb to cheer tn,
waiting line with popular songs. Tin
grltted his teeth as the familiar strains
OF mo Wedding Bells For Me- cam'
through the ventilators. For Il mo
ment he was half envious of the flee
ing cashier.
Douglas had taken plenty Of money
Twenty thousand from the prevou.
days receipts were known TO be gone
What else was missing could be tolt
only when the auditing was accom-
pllshed. Twenty thousand. Just one
OF those crisp bills would enable hin
to get married and set up the little
home for which he longed lie and
Nell were saving, but their bank &C
count grew with such pitiful slowness
The hand organ changed its tune
and Bascom, In the next cage, laughed
There's your song, Tlm," he said and
softly began to hum the words of the
chorus:
H-a double r-i-g-a-n spells Harrigan.
I'm proud OF all the Irish blood that's In
me-
Divil a word O man can say agin ya.
H-a double r-i-g-a-n ye see.
It's a name that a shame never has been
connected with,
Harrigan-thsts me.
Soon the organ was pushed on to
more remuneratve stands, but the
strains kept whirling through Tins
head. 1t was catchy air just then
popular in the vaudeville houses where
he and Nell sought their amusement,
and she delighted In singing 1t to him.
II brought to his mind a picture of
the parlor in the little fat where he
spent most of his evenings. 1t was
clean and neat and had the aspect Of u
home, but the tiny fiat was small. and
the children overran 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 gritted his teeth at the thought.
He counted the packages Of bills me-
chanically, now and then throwing out
one In which the count was short lie
had completed the count Of the hun
dred dollar bills and was working on
the thousands now.
Here. too, he found discrepancies. Ii
was as easy TO slip couple OF these
notes from a package OF fifty as to abb
stract them from the packages OF n
lesser denomination Douglas plan
had been absurdly simple In way.
Tim wondered that others had not
thought OF II. He might have done II
himself with little fear Of detection.
He might do 1t now with absolute i'm.
punity.
The thought staggered him for an In
slant. and he leaned uncertainty
against the side of the cage On the
polished counter before him were a
score Of packages from which bills
were missing. What was to prevent
his slipping couple Of bills from q
perfect package and toss II on the short
count pile: 1t would be blamed on
Douglas. No one would ever suspect
One bill would enable him TO marry
Nell and ct up home such as they
had dared to dream Of II required
only single def motion. He could
slip the bills OF the pile and into his
pocket The fiction of legacy would
explain his sudden affiuence, and no
one would eve, dream Of his transgres
sion.
He was leaning against the wire par
tition that separated him from Bias
CONS compartment. and the clerk look
ed up.
Tired out, fim?' he asked kindly
IT'S tough job. I'll be glad when it's
done. I'm as sick Of money as u girl
In candy store Is Of chocolates"
Tim nodded. and Bascom went on
eouufipO thu rolls of gold catn M hia