Page:Under three flags; a story of mystery (IA underthreeflagss00tayliala).pdf/70

 with the admonition, 'Fail not, Cyrus Felton, at the peril of your good name.'

"Having dispatched his letter to the president, the cashier waited anxiously for a reply. It came in the form of a call by Felton at the residence of Hathaway the evening before Memorial Day. The interview was a stormy one. At least we know it was not harmonious. The cashier again set forth the necessity for immediate action. Ways and means were discussed, but no way out of the tangle seemed clear. In desperation the cashier suggested some unpleasant but safe method of salvation. The president responded angrily, 'I can't and I won't!' and the cashier answered decisively, 'Then there is only one alternative.' Without waiting to discuss this alternative, the president left the house in a temper and the cashier sat up in his library for hours afterward, meditating on the crisis.

"Now, what was this 'one alternative' indicated by the cashier? Clearly publicity of the bank's condition and its subsequent wreck. The next day was Memorial Day. The cashier took part in the solemn services and in the evening he went to the bank to perform some necessary work upon the books, the teller being ill. No word had come from the president, no intimation that he was prepared to follow out the course pointed out the night before, and avoid the disgrace which the wreck of the bank would entail. Again the desperation of the situation flashed upon the cashier. The president must act, and at once. So the cashier indited a brief but peremptory note to the president: 'Come to the bank immediately.' This he delivered to Jimmy Howe, whom he found on the bridge tossing pebbles into the stream.

"The president answered the summons. Within the cashier's office the accusation, apparently so plainly indicated on this blotter, was repeated verbally. A sharp dispute followed. Hot words led to blows. The drawer of the cashier's desk was open and his revolver lay in view. Can you supply the rest?"

"But the open vault and the missing money and securities?" contends Ashley.