Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1911-04-15

I LEE RANDALL, ASblSTANT OAShlEfh
boy. attlred In black velvet knicker.
bockers. turned the knob of the door
| of the private office of the assistant
cashier of the Fourth National bank
of Springfield. Ill. Barely eleven years
old. Bobby Lane considered it the
rarest treat of his life to be allowed
chance to invade this usually busy
Office and to play at being a banker.
The large office had two entrances.
one leading into the hall of the large
building and another leading into the
! tiled incosure in which was being
built a spacious new vault. In the
middle of the room was a large ma
hogany desk. Near the hall door and
close to the wall was a small mahoga-
ny writing table. Three or four COM
Portable chairs were scattered about
the room.
On the glass of the hall door, glazed
halfway to the top, was the inscrip-
ton in trim black letters, Lee Ran
dali. Assistant Cashier"
And so 1t was with Lee Randall.
alias Jimmy Valentine. that Bobby
Lane, the bankers little son. was fond
of romping away his (Bobby'sD idle
hours and with whom he frequently
enacted the role of an austere, uncom-
promising banker
Very much the same Jimmy Valen-
tine in appearance and manner, Mr.
Randall had scored a signal success
as assistant cashier, and neither Mr..
Lane nor any other official or director
/ had found in the three years occasion
| for the slightest adverse criticism of
! the new employee. In fact. he was
deemed to be a most valuable acquisi-
tion TO the executive staff of the bank
and had evidenced unusual capacity as
a detector of counterfeit notes and Of
forged signatures on negotiable instru-
ments. Yes. the assistant cashier was
a man with a future of promise in
store for him. and the Fourth National
of Springfield had but month before
offered him the position of cashier,
with u thousand dollars year in
crease over his present salary. Not
one official of the Fourth National could
give Il satisfactory reason for his re-
fuSal of the offer, Very remarkable
young man, very" was the comment
of the president of the Fourth National
when notified of the episode,
"Uurrah Nobody in the office ex-
claimed Bobby to his sister Kitty. who
followed him into the room
The children. prime favorites with
rhe assistant cashier We're accustomed
TO do very much rs they pleased with
him or with h.s office al this late hour
in the day. when business with the
public had practically concluded Al.
most the only remaining thing for him
to do was TO attend to certain routine
matters connected with the closing of
the banks business for the day
Come on: let us play something. -"
Iha llenged the sprightly Kitty. who.
in her short skirted white linen dress
and with her delicate features. much
like those uf her sister Rose. appear
ed more like Christmas doll than n
future lnheritor of fortune and of an
imposing. dictatorial social position
AT BObbys suggestion the children
decided to play at "heing a banker"
and after a lengthy. spirited dispute
Bobby impersnnated thp role cf Mr.
Randall, while Kitty was forces 10 he
content with the character of lady
borrower"
Bobby perched himself OF the ne
SiStant cashiers chair aud aSsll' ~. q
stern IN expression as his ru..o!,
feat ureS aud miSchievOuS ruviug ry,.
would permit.
"Now, understand YOU wish
Io0n." began Bnhbl
Il don't. either" rptortpI Ki'iv. -
ting herself on chair in front u. o..
desk
"Oh. come M and play. When sa,
4 understand you wish loan yU,t
say Yes
but you won't give me any money :"
If your security is good enough /
will. Now" imperously, Il under
stand you wish a loan"
How much can | get?"
no. no. You say LOT at first:
that's business Now. how muchT'
Fifty thousand dollars"
That's fine" He paused. judiciously
puckering his brows. That's consid.
ble money"
That's the most could think Of"
decisively.
Don't talk that way" instructed
Bobby. You would be put out for
making breaks like that. Just don't
say anything when they find fault
Now, that's considerable money, but
of course you have securityT" He
I paused. We'll. saw Yes"