“No；butsomebodywassayin’hethoughto’startin’intradehere。“
“Don’tSamknow？Hegenerallyknowswhat’sgoin’on。’，“KnowsheregisteredfromPittsfield，Mass。，an’that’sall。Say，that’samightysmart-lookin’womano’his。“
“Vancealwaysseeshowthewomenlook，Where’dyouseeher？“
“Cameinheretheotherdaytolookupprices。“
“Wha’dshesay’boutsettlin’？“
“Hadn’tdecidedyet。“
“He’stooslicktohavemuchbusinessinhim。Thatwaxedmustachegives’imaway。“
Thediscussionhavingreachedthatpointwherehiswordwouldhavemosteffect，SteveGilbertsaid，whileopeningthehearthtorapouttheashesofhispipe，“Sam’swifeheerdthathewaskindo’
thinkin’someofgoin’intobusinesshere，ifthingssuited’imfirst-rate。“
Theyallknewtheoldmanwasachingtotellsomething，buttheydidn’tpurposetogratifyhimbyanyquestions。Theraindrippedfromtheawninginfrontandfellupontheroofofthestoreroomatthebackwithasoftandsteadyroar。
“Goodf’rthecorn，“MePhailsaidafteralongpause。
“Purtycold，though。“
Gilbertwastranquil-hehadashotinreserve。“Sam’swifesaidhiswifesaidhewasthinkin’someofgoin’intoabankhere-“
“Abank!“
“Whatinthunder-“
Vanceturned，withacomicallookonhislong，placidface，onehandstrokinghisbeard。
“Well，now，gents，I’lltellyouwhat’sthematterwiththistown。Itneedsabank。Yes，sir!Ineedabank。“
“You？“
“Yes，me。Ididn’tknowjustwhatdidailme，butIdohow。It’stheneedofabankthatkeepsmedown。“
“Well，youfellerscantalkan’laugh，butItellyebthey’saboomgoin’tostrikethistown。It’sgottocome……W’y，justlookatLumberville!“
“Theirboomisourbust，“wasMcPhail’scomment。
“Idon’tthinkso，“saidSanford，whohadenteredintimetoheartheselasttwospeeches。Theyalllookedathimwithdeepinterest。
Hewasasmallishman。Heworeaderbyhatandaneatsuit。“I’velookedthingsoverprettyclose-amandon’tliketoinvesthiscapital“heretherestlookedatoneanother“tillhedoes；andI
believethere’sanopeningforabank。“
Ashedweltupontheschemefromdaytoday，thecitizens，warmedtohim，andhebecame“Jim“Sanford。Hehiredalittlecottageandwenttohousekeepingatonce；buttheentiresummerwentbybeforehemadehisdecisiontosettle。Infact，itwasinthelastweekofAugustthatthelittlepaperannounceditintheusualstyle：
Mr。JamesG。Sanford，popularlyknownas“Jim，“hasdecidedtoopenan’exchangebankfortheconvenieneeofourcitizens，whohavehithertobeenforcedtotransactbusinessinLumberville。ThethanksofthetownaredueMr。Sanford，whocomeswellrecommendedfromMassachusettsandfromMilwaukee，and，betterstill，withabagofducats。Mr。S。willbewellpatronized。
Success，Jim!
Thebankwasopenbythetimethecorncropandthehogswerebeingmarketed，andmoneywasreceivedondepositwhilethecarpenterswerestillatworkonthebuilding。Everybodyknewnowthathewasassolidasoak。
Hehadtakenintothebank，asbookkeeper，LincolnBingham，oneofMcPhail’smultitudinousnephews；andthiswasacapitalmove。
EverybodyknewLink，andknewhewasaMcPhail，whichmeantthathe“couldbetiedtoinallkindso’weather。“OfcoursetheMcPhails，McIlvaines，andtherestoftheScotchcontingency“bankedonLink。“AsoldAndrewMcPhailputit：
“Link’sthere，an’heknowsthebankan’books，an’justhowthingsstand“；andsowhenhesoldhishogsheputthewholesum-over-
fifteenhundreddollars-intothebank。TheMcIlvainesandtheBinghamsdidthesame，andthebankwasatoncefirmlyestablishedamongthefarmers。
OnlytwopeopleheldoutagainstSanford，oldFreemeColeandMrs。Bingham，Lincoln’smother；buttheydidn’tcount，forFreemehadn’tacent，andMrs。Binghamwastoounreasoninginheropposition。Shecouldonlysay：
“Idon’tlikehim，that’sall。IknowedamanbackinNewYorkthatcurledhismustachesjustthatway，an’hewa’n’tnoearthiygood。“
ItmighthavebeensaidbyacynicthatBankerSanfordhadallthevirtuesofadefaultingbankcashier。Hehadnobadhabitsbeyondsmoking。Hewasgenial，companionable，andespeciallyreadytohelpwhensicknesscame。WhenoldFreemeColegotdownwithdeliriumtremensthatwinter，Sanfordwasoneofthemostheroicofnurses，andtheservicewassoclearlydisinterestedandmaguanimousthateveryonespokeofit。
Hiswifeandhewereincludedineverydanceorpicnic；forMrs。
Sanfordwasasgreatafavoriteasthebankerhimself，shewassosincere，andhergrayeyesweresocharminglyfrank，andthenshesaid“suchfunnythings。“
“IwishIhadsomethingtodobesideshousework。It’sakindofaputterin’job，bestyecando，“she’dsaymerrily，justtoseetheothersstare。“There’stoomuchmoppin’an’dustin’。Seems’sifawomanuseduphalfherlifeonthingsthatdon’tamounttoanything，don’tit？“
“Itellyehthatfeller’sascallywag。Iknowitbuhtheway’ewalks’longthesidewalk，“Mrs。Binghaminsistedtoherson，whowishedhertoputhersavingsintothebank。
Theyoungestofalargefamily，LinkhadbeenaccustomedallhislifetoMrs。Biugham’smanywhimsicalities。
“Is’poseyoucansmellhe’sathief，justasyoucantellwhenit’sgoin’torain，orthebutter’scomin’，bythesmell。“
“Well，youneedn’tlaugh，Lincoln。Ican，“maintainedtheoldladystoutly。“An’Iain’tgoin’toputaredcentomymoneymtohispocket-f’rthere’swhereit’udgoto。“
Sheyieldedatlast，andreceivedalittlebankbookinreturnforhermoney。“JestaboutallI’lleverget，“shesaidprivately；andthereafteroutofher’brass-bowedspectacleswithaneagle’sgazeshewatchedthebankergoby。Butthebanker，seeingthedearoldsoulatthewindowlookingoutathim，alwayssmiledandbowed，unawareofhersuspicion。
Attheendoftheyearheboughtthelotnexttohisrentedhouseandbeganbuildingoneofhisown，amodestlittleaffair，shapedlikeaporkpiewithacupola，oraTamo’-Shantercap-astyleofarchitecturewhichbecamefashionableatonce。
HeworkedheroicallytogetthelocationoftheplowfactoryatBluffSiding，andallbutsucceeded；butTyre，oncetheirally，turnedagainstthem，andrefusedtoconsiderthefactoftheSiding’spositionatthecenterofthecounty。However，forsomereasonorother，thetownwokeuptosomethingofaboomduringthenexttwoyears。Severallargefarmersdecidedtoretireandliveoffthesweatofsomeotherfellow’sbrow，andsobuiltsomehousesofthepork-pieorderandmovedintotown。
Thisinflowofmoneyedmenfromthecountryresultedintheestablishmentofa“seminaryoflearning“onthehillside，wheretheSoldiers’Homewastobelocated。Thiscalledinmorefarmersfromthecountry，andanewhotelwasbuilt，asash-and-doorfactoryfollowed，andBurtMcPhailsetupafeedmill。
Anthisimprovementunquestionablydated，fromtheopeningofthebank，andthemostunreasonmgpartisansofthebankerheldhimtobethechiefcauseoftheresultingdevelopmentofthetown，thoughhehimselfmodestlydisclaimedanyhandintheaffair。
HadBluffSidingbeenacity，thehighestcivichonorswouldhavebeenopentoBankerSanford；indeed，hisnamewasrepeatedlymentionedinconnectionwiththecountyoffices。
“No，gentlemen，“heexplainedfirmly，butcourteously，inWilson’sstoreonenight；“I’mabanker，notapolitician。Ican’tridetwohorses。“
Inthesecondyearofthebank’shistoryhewentuptothenorthpartofthestateonbusiness，visitingWestSuperior，Duluth，Ashland，andotherboomingtowns，andcamebackfullofthewondersofwhathesaw。
“There’sbigmoneyupthere，Nell，“hesaidtohiswife。
Butshehadthewoman’stendencytoholdfasttowhatshehad，andwouldnotlistentoanyplansaboutmoving。
“Buildupyourbusinesshere，Jim，anddon’tworryaboutwhatgoodchancestherearesomewhereelse。“
Hesaidnomoreaboutit，buthetookgreatinterestinallthenewsthe“boys“broughtbackfromtheirannualdeerhunts“upNorth。“
TheywereallenthusiasticoverWestSuperiorandDuluth，andtheirwonderfuldevelopmentwasthenever-endingthemeofdiscussioninWilson’sstore。
II
Thefirsttwoyearsofthebank’shistoryweresolidlysuccessful，and“Jim“and“Nellie“weretheheadandfrontofallgoodworksandtheprovokingcauseofmostofthefun。Nooneseemedmorecarefree。
“Weconsiderourselvesjustasyoungasanybody，“Mrs。Sanfordwouldsay，whenjokedaboutgoingoutwiththeyoungpeoplesomuch；butsometirnesathome，afterthechildrenwereasleep，shesighedalittle。
“Jim，IwishyouwasinsomekindofabusinesssoIcouldhelp。I
don’thaveenoughtodo。Is’poseIcouldmopan’dust，an’dustan’
mop；butitseemssinfultoWastetimethatway。Can’tIdoanything，Jim？“
“Why，no。Ifyou’tendtothechildrenandkeephouse，that’sallanybodyasksofyou。“
Shewassilent，butnotconvinced。Shehadadesiretodosomethingoutsidethewallsofherhouse-adesiretransmittedtoherfromherfather，forawomaninheritsthesethings。
InthespringofthesecondyearanumberofthedepositorsdrewoutmoneytoinvestinDuluthandSuperiorlots，andthewholetownwasexcitedoverthematter。
Thesummerpassed，LinkandSanfordspendingtheirtirneinthebank-thatis，whennotoutswimmingorfishingwiththeboys。ButJulyandAugustwereterriblyhotanddry，andoatsandcornwereonlyhalf-crop；andthefarmersweregrumbling。Someofthemwereforcedtodrawonthebankinsteadofdepositing。
McPhailcamein，onedayinNovember，todrawathousanddollarstopayforahouseandlothehadrecentlybought。
Sanfordwasalone。Hewhistled。“Phew!You’recomin’atmehard。
Comeintomorrow。Link’sgonedowntothecitytogetsomemoney。“
“Allright，“saidMePhail；“anytime。“
“Goin’t’snow？“
“Lookslikeit。I’llhaftoloadaloto’ca’tridgesreadyfrbiz。“
AboutanhourlateroldladyBinghamburstuponthebanker，wildandbreathless。“Iwantmymoney，“sheannounced。
“Goodmorning，Mrs。Bingham。Pleasant-“
“Iwantmymoney。Where’sLincoln？“
Shehadreadthatmorningoftwobankfailure-oneinNovaScotiaandoneinMassachusetts-andtheyseemedprovidentialwarningstoher。Lincoln’sabsenceconfirmedthem。
“He’sgonetoSt。Paul-won’tbebacktillthefive-o’clocktrain。Doyouneedsomemoneythismorning？Howmuch？“
“Allofit，sir。Everycent。“
Sanfordsawsomethingwasoutofgear。Hetriedtoexplain。“I’vesentyoursontoSt。Paulaftersomemoney-“
“Where’smymoney？Whathaveyoudonewiththat？“Inherexcitementshethoughtofhermoneyjustasshehandhandeditin-silverandlittlerollsandwadsofbills。
“Ifyou’llletmeexplain-“
“Idon’twantyoutoexplainnawthin’。Jesthandmeoutmymoney。“
Twoorthreeloafers，seeinghergesticulate，stoppedonthewalkoutsideandlookedinatthedoor。Sanfordwasannoyed，butheremainedcalmandpersuasive。Hesawthatsomethinghadcausedapanicinthegood，simpleoldwoman。HewishedforLincolnasonewishesforapolicemansometimes。
“Now，Mrs。Bingham，ifyou’llonlywaittillLincoln-“
“Idon’twant’owait。Iwantmymoney，rightnow。“
“Willfiftydollarsdo？“
“No，sir；Iwantitall-everycentofit-jestasitwas。“
“ButIcan’tdothat。Yourmoneyisgone-“
“Gone？Whereisitgone？Whathaveyoudonewithit？Youthief-“
“’Sh!“Hetriedtoquiether。“ImeanIcan’tgiveyouyourmoney-“
“Whycan’tyou？“shestormed，trottingnervouslyonherfeetasshestoodthere。
“Because-ifyou’dletmeexplain-wedon’tkeepthemoneyjustasitcomestous。Wepayitoutandtakeinother-“