LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1520, 31 December 1878, Page 3

LITERATURE.

HOW OUR BANK WAS ROBBED.

AUNT ESTHER'S WILL. By Flobekce H. Birney. (Concluded.) I caught him up at once and hurried him off to his room, where I hustled him into his diminutive knickerbockers, scolding and exhorting as I did so, * I don't want her old money,' growled Ted, bobbing his head as I tried to brush it, ' You girls can be as soft to her as you like, but you don't catch me.' ' Now, Ted, think how poor wo are. Do try to be sweet and kind to her, it will be only for a month, and I will make you some sugar taffy and currant buna when she is gone. Do be a good boy.' ' I couldn't be god a whole month if you promised me a cart load of taffy and a barrel of buna,' with a shake of his curly head, 'O, Ted, you have never tried. Do try just this once, and ree how it works. Now go down to the parlor, walk up to aunt, and say, gently, " I hope I see you well, Aunt Esther; you must stay with us as long as you can," and kiss her. Now, Ted, go on down.' ' Wait till T got something out of my o'her pants' pockat,' ho said, and picked up from the floor the muddy little breoches J;o had JTfit shaken off, I followed him down the &t*ii-i/, and looked through the crack of the door to's'b how he conducted him.elf beforeailnt. 'He marched v.p c> hjr iikn a"sturdy little chieftain. 1 'Hello, aunt.' was his greeting, and he hold out his hand to h?r. Aunt Fsthor pr,t her ,>wn thin, sinewy paw over the chubby little brown fist, and opened her lips to speak But instead of words, a frightful shriek broke from them, and then she started to her feeb, as I saw a dead mouse fall beneath her skirts. 'Ted, how could you!' I cried, rushing in. ' How c mid I remember that I had the i mouse in th vt hand?' asked Ted, with open- ! eyed innooaace.

i ' D'> you go rvmund with dead mice in your hands a a general thing ?' aaked Aunt E aln'i, fiercely. ' Well, not as a general thing,' said Ted, cooliy, ' but pretty often. Steve Slowgood and I are making a collection of mice skins. I've got 'era in th s ceMar. Would you like to see me skin this one V whipping out his old jack knife wi ; h alacrity. Aunt Esther stnrted back with horror depicted in every feature. 'Little wretch !' she cried, 'I wonder if you think I will 1 ;ave any of my money to yon ?' 'I don't want your old money,' said Ted, cros.dy, ' and 1 should think you'd be ashamed to be scared of a poor little mouse.' 'Come and help me set the table, Ted,' I cried, fearing worse might follow if I left him in aunt's presence. He followed me out of the room, and sat quietly whistling while I set the table. I was so glad to have him quiet and out of danger that I I did not mind his covering the hearth with shavings and splinters of wood. That evening we all sat with Aunt Esther, and did our best to amuse her, but we found it dreary work. I could not help thinking of the dance going at Lizzie Maynard's, and Lottie was regretting the loss of the ride to Holly Springs, We were as pleasant as possible to Aunt Esther, but she did not reward our stupendous efforts with a single commendatory word. ' Lottie,' she said, ' why do you wear your hair in that heathen manner? You look like a poodle dog, or a skye terrier, or an idiot I hardly know which to liken you to. I ominate frously hair.' The color flushed into Lottie's face, but sbe conquered her temper, and the inclination to make a tart reply. ' I will alter it. aunt,' ahe said gently. ' Hattie, do sit up straight. Look at me ! , I never sat in a rocking-chair, and I never lounge. I declare your shoulders are nearly d •formed.' ' I forgot to sit up straight,' I replied. ' I '. wish my shoulders wore like Lottie's.' i ' I don't think hers are much/ said Aunt ' Esther. 'Do you make your own dresses ?' ' 'We are obliged to do so,' said Lottie. ' ' Hattie is a famous dressmaker.' ' ' I tnought they looked half-sewed,' said ' aunt. ' Harriet, why don't you put a stitch ' in that apron pocket ? I hate to see such 1 carelessness and slovenly habits.' * So she went on until we were heartily glad ' when bed time came. ! Lottie and I went out in the yard and stood by the front gate wh n the old lady J had clattered up to her own room with the parting remark that if her eyes were old she could yet sea that the top of that picture ! frame in the hall needed dusting. ' * How shall wo ever stand this a whole month ?' said Lottie, as we stood in the September moonlight. •We are so poor, and we need the money so much, that we must make the best of her , antics,'l replied. Just then a buggy came roiling slowly down the road. We both knew the horse perfectly. It was Dick Harfcwell's, and Ujck himself was driving now, and by his side sat Emily Barcourt. ,

Lottie stood silent and motionless until the horse's hoofs ringing on the plank road could be heard no mora. Then she turned and walked into the house I did not say anything to her, for I saw that she was feeling badly, and I heard her sobbing convulsively in the middle of the night. The next morning at breakfast Aunt Esther laid a slip of paper on Ted's plate. •Xs that your writing, Theodore ?' she asked. ' Yes'm/ was the reply, and my heart sank as I recognised the slip as the note Ted had left for us the day previous. Mother must have dropped it in the hall, and of course aunt had happened to be the one to pick it up. Poor, unfortunate Ted 1 Well, I believe none of our family ever had a lucky star. 'You write a fine hand,' said Aunt Esther, in a sarcastic tone, ' but your spelling is not so good. I will instruct you how to spell the word 'aunt.' I am not an insect.' Lottie and I gazed helplessly at mother. None of us could find words to made any explanation, and indeed, what explanation could we make ? 'Of course I don't expect you to leave me your money,' was Ted's awful remarks. ' I know you wouldn't do it, so there is no use my being soft to yon. I mean to do just the way I've always been doing; and I won't stop fishing for anybody.' Aunt Esther gaze at him sourly, but said no more. What a terrible month that was i I think it was the unhappiest month I ever spent. None of us could please Aunt Esther. Lottie wore her hair combed bnck perfectly straight, and 1 eschewed rocking chairs and straigtened my spine whenever I was with her; mother wore herself thin waiting on her ancient relative, and Lottie and I persistently wore the brooch and antique comb until we hated the sk',ht of ourselves adorned with the monstrosities. Ted ab>ne pursued the even tenor of his way, not abating his whistling or singing or fishing a jot, and smearing himself the fame as ever with paint, mud, glue and whitewash, which he used in his various employments. Not a day passed that he did not receive a long lecture from Aunt Esther, and he invariably told her that he didn't want her old money, and could earn plenty for himself. We wished sincerely that she wnuld shorten her viyit. for we felt sure that her money would all be left to the family of Uncle Charles, so dis-atisfied did she appear with us all, and so frequent were her praises of our cousins. But, she stayed a month to the day, and then, while putting on her numerous wraps, said grimly—- ' I thank you all for the efforts you have made to please me ; but lam sorry to be oblighed to say that I do not approve of the vanity and extravagance your girls show Martha,' turning to mother. ' Vanity! extravagance! ' wc all echoed in astonishment. We had never been accused of either before. ' Yes —I sent Lottie a valuable brooch containing the picture of my sainted father. Sho has worn it every day during my stay here to my certam knowledge. I sent Hattie a comb which was once the property of my precious mother, and she has never been without it in her head a single day Bince 1 have been here. Such heirlooms are too valuable to be abused, and shows the vanity and extravagance of your heart:-". It also shows how poor a use you you would make of money if you had it. This has decided me in my resolve to leave my money elsewhere. My gifts should have been used on rare and state occasions only.' And we had thought to please her by f-a-rificing ourselves in wearing the abominations ! It was too bad.

We helped the old into the carriage, with soro, chagrined hearts and eager hauls. We were iuded eager to see the last of her, and hear the last of her money, ' Good-bye, Theodoro,' she said, holding out a thin claw, and adzing Tod's chubby hand as he stood by the door of the carriage. 'Will you kiss me goodbye? You alone havo been no hypocrite.' 'l'd rather not,' raid Ted, daawing back. ' I don't care much about kissing, and I don't expeet to got your money, so i guess I won't. Besides, my face is dirty ' 'lt generally ie,' said Aunt Esther. ' But nevermind, Good-bye'to you all. I shall never nee you again ' Wo watched the ca r ri,age roll away, and then went into the houee and began closing up the spare room, and taking down the curt .ins Oh, dear how much troub'e we had h"«n put to, and it had all amounted to •nothing, All at once Lizzio Maynard came bounding into the room " ,; tich news, she said, eagerly, "an old beau of yours is engaged, Lottie. Bmily Barcourt has actually snared Dick Harfcwell at least.' It was a cruel blow to Lottie It staggered her just at first. Dick had not been tq see her since Aunt Esther had come, to yibit us, but wo had been top. much taken up with her to notice Luok'p conduct much. He hail b«du, thrown a great deal with Emily, and this 'was the reui't. Perhaps that ride, to Holly Springs had begun it.

Lottie was pale and a little worn looking for a few weeks, but she conquered her attachment for Dick, and did not allow his engagement to Emily to make her unhappy. But I think she hated Aint Esther from the moment she heard about it. If she had only gone to Holly Springs—well, things might have been different. Voila tout, Six weeks after her visit to us news of the death of Aunt Esther. As her h me had been for years only sixty mile 3 from Mayview, we all went to the funeral, and to the reading of the will. Uncle Charles and his three daughters and two sous were there too, and they were confident that the whole of the property had been left to them. But tho will was a surprise to all present, except the lawyer who read it, he having drawn it up. The whole of the property real and personal was left to Ted! Our Ted ! We could hardly believe our ears. There was a letter saying that Ted alone of all her relatives had never been a hypocrite or appeared to fawn upon her for her money. Y large sum was set apart which was to be used for his education and other expenses until he reached his majority. And this was our Aunt Esther's will! In lookingjthrough an old desk a few weeks ago, I found a faded, soiled piece of paper, on which was printed in crooked letters—- ' I'm goin fishen darn ant i say." I called to Lottie, snd showed it to her, and we both laughed over it, and the remembrance of Ted's awful candour which had caused him to be made heir of Aunt Esther's wealth.

By T. S. G. One bright morning, a few years agfo, great excitement prevailed in the London office of the ' City and Provincial Bank (Limited.) Yet the bank had just declared a fat dividend of 15 per cent, for the half year. Shareholders were contented, and god Mammon seemed to cast a favorable eye on the welfare of the old and thriving corporation. However, a mutinous feeling of discontent was plainly visible upon the faces of the thirty odd employes, who swarmed like bees into the hive every week day morning for the purpose of manufacturing the golden produce that delighteth the souls of distributing directors and radiant proprintors. The shoe pinched Homewhere. Where was it ? The following notice, circulated for the perusal of each clerk, contained the secret of the unwonted gloom : ' Every gentleman will be required to remain at the banking-house two Sundays in the year, to assist in guarding the premises. ' By order, 'J. SpOPFOETH, Secretary.' Here was a revolution—a coup d'etat indeed! Six days we should labor, but the seventh certainly did not belong to the City and Provincial Bank. The gilding of a little extra pay might have made the pill easier to swallow, but on this point the notice was discreetly reticent. In the end, after a f-:w days of; conjecture and excitement, every one quietly resigned himself to his fate, as black and wbite slaves are bound to do all the world over. I had been ten yea-s in tho Bank, and received a salary which, though not magnilicent, was sufficient to support a young wife : and very happy we were in our snug retreat at Wood Green Of course we both thought it extremely hard t» be separated even for two Sundays in the year, still we soon saw there was nothing for it but submission.

Now, though I in common with others rebelled against the forcible seizure of the Sunday's rest, yet it must bo owned there waß some reason for the f-xtraordiuary innovation. The strong room a of two neighbouring establishments had been attempted within a fortnight, and a boy carrying bonds in Broad street had been decoyed away and the securities stolen. But worst of all some pilfering had been going on for months in our bank Stamps had disappeared to an alarming extent. Clerks had missed money from their coats, and dow and theu the garments themselves were spirited away. Traps had been carefully laid, and a detective spoken with ; but as yet the rogue was not discovered, and an uneasy feeling was rife among us all. The Bank boasted of four porters or messengers, one of whom (the chief) lived rent free in premises that nearly adjoined the building. He was a long lean man named Bennett, with a parchment face and a goatee btard. Some people said he was civil, otheru servile : at all events he was quiet, well up to his work, and high in favor with the authorities. Of the remaining three one had been a grocer's boy, and the other was a country lout put into a green coat and brass buttons, boti honest creatures, but of no importance in this narrative. The fourth was an ex policeman named Lance, a blunt, pleasant man, much given to relating queer stories of his former life, and not averse to a pot of beer for his trouble. eight weeks had passed since the official notification, it came round to my turn to keep guard. During the week preceding the mystery had become still more intensified by the unaccountable disappearance of a twenty-pound note, and matters began to assume a very grave aspect. On arriving at the Bank, the door was opened by the night watchman, an old pensioned soldier who for one pound a week remained in the building all night, and vanished with the early morning on the arrival of the porters to open the doors. A few minutes afterwards Bennett walked in accompanied to my joy by honest old Lance, whose wonderful stories I fondly hoped would help to relieve the tedium of a long, dull day; theu, without more ado, I proceeded to make my first round. Preceded by Bennett with a lighted taper, I marched upstairs, through every room and office, acosa perilous planks and up dangerous ladders, till we gained the trap door which opened on to the roof ; then down again to the lowest abysses of coal-cellar and strongroom, looking in vain for some concealed Guy Eawkes, who, however, was conspicuous by his absence. Very minutely did I examine and try the drawer which had already been tampered with, as I knew it contained besides stamps a large sum in gold and notes. No, it seemed firm and safe, and would take 'a deal o' work,' as Bennett remarked, holding his taper close to the look. Lance, too, had a good long look at it, and expressed the same sagacious opinion as his colleague. Our first visit ended—and I was expected to patrol at least three times in the day—the two porters went down to breakfast, and I adjourned to the manager's room, leaving the door partly open so as to be able to see all round the bank. I lit a cigar, and ensconcing myself comfortably in the inana-

gerial arm-chair, prepared to stay the two hours which intervened between the ceasafcion of the church bells and luncheon time. ■Suddenly old Lance appeared again at the half-opened door, and spo!;<> in this wise—- ' 'Souse me, sir, but I've been a placeman and I divi/'t think that lock's all right.' ' Which look, Lance ?' said I. c That there drawer with tho stamps, sir.' ' Well, lot us look again,' So saying, we bath went to the counter which contained the drawer, a. d Lance pointed cut some nmall scratches on the lock, and a slight indentation in the woodwork surrounding it. ' Tha V a chisel if I die ft r it,' said the expoliceman, 'By jove ! You don't mean it ?' ' Sure of it, sir.' • Well, let's have Bennett upstairs sud hear what he thinks of it.' Angry at bung disturbed at h*s breakfast, the head porter caiie grurjftbSng to the place where I stood, and. bending down to the Jock, impatiently inquired if it was not a deal mere lively thecailuer had scratched it in ate cpuiye of business. After a few minutes' further inspection, he looked up with a knowing smile. ' J believe Lane..; is right now ; it looks so fresh, I shouldn't wonder if the watchman krew something about this.' ; Perhaps so,' said I—' what do you think, I aaco ?'

j ' Well, he looks honest enough—but looks . ain't always a guide,' said the man quietly. ' Then I'll stop in the bank to-night and see if I can trap my gentleman exolaimed Bennett, ' if you'll leave me the key.' ' I can't do that,'l replied, 'but I shall ; report the fact to the manager the first thing in the morning.' ' As you like, sir,' he assented reluctantly, and tlv*y both returned to their long-neglected meal. Again I retreated into my den, this time with the proud consciousness of having something important to relate when Monday morning should see the stream of busy workers once more settled with books and papers and filthy lucre generally. One—nay, two cigars did I consume down to the last half inch, read ' Byles on Bills' nearly through, in default of more cheerful literature, and I am afraid a tiuy doze must have ensued, as I was awakened by Bennett's voice close to me asking what I would take for luncheon. I fixed upon the hackneyed chop, and with it a pint of stout, to be fetched from the only eating house that deigned to open for a couple of hours on Sunday. While he was gone I took the opportunity of making my second round, and found nothing but peace everywhere, with the slight exception of being startled by the sudden appearance of the bank cat from the cavernous dopths of the enormous coal cellar. Eventually I returned to my I room, and fcund a succulent chop smoking upon the table, flanked by a pewter pot of foaming stout, which, on tasting, I found unusually soft and creamy—indeed I fancied I could detect a peculiar aroma In the grateful beverage which Beemed to make it more than ordinarily palatable ; anyhow I thoroughly enjoyed the repast, and when an intenselyslumberous sensation crept through all my veins, my strongest effort of will proved insufficient to keep me awake. While I was struggling against the itnpulfe, Lance came in to inform me that he was going out to dine at nis home close by, while Bennett was left on guard below. As he ] closed the door behind him, my eyes shut and I fell aßleep, but only, in a few moments to be reawakened by his voice again address* ing me. (To he continued.)