The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-01-21
THE EVENING STORY
Harrigan.
by Lulu Johnson.1


There was no uproar in the street 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 window the checks which they ner-
vously fingered.
| glass dome within the bank presented
| curious contrast to the almost hopeless
inactivity outside. In the directors room
the bank examiner and the president sat
at the long table scanning the piles of
collateral
At the bookkeepers desks the clerks
were helping the staff Of accountants to
| examine the huge ledgers. 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. Doug
las, was not among those present.
Tim Harrigan looked up from his desk
as the assistant cashier, Mr.. WaTdng,
passed.
II wish you'd count these" he said.
I've gone over 1t three times and it
seems to be $500 short
Waring stepped into the cage and ran
over the bills with practiced touch. A
| second time he counted them over and
then looked I'D
THAT Is Just what we are trying to find
out" he said to Harrigan. For months
Douglas has been slipping one or two
| bills out of a package. 1t was easier
| than falsifying the entries and as most
| of the money was cash reserve. the trick
| may have been going on for a year. 1t
| was when one Of the packages was paid
out by mistake in Douglas absence that
the first suspicion aroused. 1 asked
him about it when he came back from
lunch. He gave an explanation, but when
he did not come down yesterday morning
suspicion was confirmed. and somehow
And a precious lot of work it is MAX
| ing" said Harrigan Grossly, as he thought
OF the broken engagement to take Nell to
the theater. Warning laughed knowingly.
Don't mind about the girl" he advised.
There's every prospect of getting
| through tomorrow and you can take her
| to the show then. Keep eye peeled for
The assistant cashier passed on i and Tim
| Harrigan bent to his work again Outside
curb to Cheer te Waiting line up With
popular songs. Tim gritted his teeth as
The s1,s f am Ma strains Of No Wsddng
ors. For a moment he was half envious
Of the fleeing cashier.
Twenty thousand from the previous days
receipts were known to be gone. What
else was missing could be told only when
the auditing was accomplished Twenty
| thousand! Just one of those crisp bills
would enable him to get married and set
up the. little home for which he longed.
account grew with such pitiful slowness.
The hand organ changed its tune. and
' Thepes your ' Song, Tim, f he said ka 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 word man can say agin We,
IA H. double R-I-G-A-N ye see.
connected with
Harr1gan-thats me.
Soon tho oro., MOS ,,-bad -, - ,,o-a
remunerative stands, but the strains kept
whirling through Tins head. 1t was a
vile houses where he and Nell sought
| their amusement, and she delighted In
| singing it to him.
| It brought to his mind a picture of the
parlor in. the little flat where he spent
most of his evenings 1t was clean and
neat and had the aspect of a home, but
overran, the place. He wanted his own
home alone with Nell Just one of the
have set them up and have left a tidy
balance besides
He counted the packages of bills mechan-
| ica1ly, now and then throwing out in
which the count was short; He had com
bills and was working on the thousands
now.
Here, too. he found discrepancies. 1t
was as easy to slip a couple of these notes
from the paefages Of a lesser denomin ina
simple in a way. Tim wondered that
| others had not thought of it. He might
have done it himself with little fear of
detection. He might do it now with alb
solute impunity.
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 pack
ages from which bills were missing. What
was to prevent his slipping a couple of
bills from a perfect package. and toss it
on the short count pile? 1t would be
suspect.
One bill would enable him to marry Nell
to dream of He could slip the bills off
the pile and into his pocket The fiction
Of a Legacy, would explain his sudden af-
fluence and no one would ever dream of
his transgression.
He was leaning. against the wire parti-
eraa and the h Clerk ooed n
Tired out, Tim?" he asked kindly. IT'S
a tough job. I'll be glad when it's done.
store is Of chocolates"
Tim nodded and Bascom went on count
as he ele worked. Tim started as 't the tune
caught his attention. 1t was 'Harrigan,'
and Bascom was whistling the chorus:
H-a double r-i-g-a-n: you see
It's a name that a shame never has been
connected with.
Harrigan-that's me.
Tim slipped off the high stool and went
over to the water cooler. The ice water |
reduced his fever. and he went back to
the dull drudgery of the count. his mo-
mentary madness gone. He was proud of
his name. He never could face Nell bur- |
dened with secret knowledge of guilt; he |
never could offer her home that was
bought with stolen money. The song had |
saved him.
It was late in the afternoon when he
tabulated the results of his count and |
took them to the president. The gray
haired Old man gave sigh of relief as
he tho total.
tIt is not as bad as I had feared, ;" he |
said slowly. passing the memorandum to /
the examiner Douglas hit US pretty |
hard but he did not deal death blow"
THE bank will keep open?" cried Tin |
smile spreading over his face. With |
the bank closed. marriage with Nell SEEM |
fha,- bar, o1ra,