Mrs。Binghamwasgettingmoreandmorebewildered。Shenowhadonlyoneclearidea-shecouldn’tgethermoney。Hervoicegrewtearfullikeanangrychild’s。
“Iwantmymoney-Iknewyou’dstealit-thatIworkedfor。Givememymoney。“
Sanfordhastilyhandedhersomemoney。“Here’sfiftydollars。Youcanhavetherestwhen-“
Theoldladyclutchedthemoney，andliterallyranoutofthedoor，andwentoffupthesidewalk，talkingincoherently。Toeveryoneshemetshetoldherstory；butthemensmiledandpassedon。Theyhadheardherpredictionsofcalamitybefore。
ButMrs。Mcllvainewasmadeatriffeuneasybyit“Hewouldn’tgiveyouy’rmoney？Ordidhesayhecouldn’t？“sheinquiredinhermoderateway。
“Hecouldn’t，an’hewouldn’t!“shesaid。“Ifyou’vegotanymoneythere，you’dbettergetitoutquick。Itain’tsafeaminute。WhenLincolncomeshomeI’mgoin’toseeifIcan’t-“
“Well，Iwascalc’latin’togotoLumbervillethisweek，anyway，tobuyacarpetandachamberset。IguessImight’swellgetthemoneytoday。“
Whenshecameinanddemandedthemoney，Sanfordwasscared。
Werethesetwooldwomenthebeginningofthedeluge？WouldMcPhailinsistonbeingpaidalso？Therewasjustonehundreddollarsleftinthebank，togetherwithalittlesilver。Withrarestrategyhesmiled。
“Certainly，Mrs。McIlvaine。Howmuchwillyouneed？“Shehadintendedtodemandthewholeofherdeposit-onehundredandseventeendollars-buthisreadinessmollifiedheralittle。“Idid’lowI’dtakethehull，butIguessseventy-fivedollars’lldo。“
Hepaidthemoneybrisklyoutoverthelittleglassshelf。“Howisyourchildren，Mrs。McIlvaine？“
“Purtywell，thanky，“repliedMrs。Mcllvaine，laboriouslycountingthebills。
“Isitallright？“
“Iguessso，“shereplieddubiously。“I’llcountitafterIgethome。“
Shewentupthestreetwiththefeelingthatthebankwasallright，andshesteppedinandtoldMrs。Binghamthatshehadnotroubleingettinghermoney。
AltershehadgoneSanfordsatdownandwroteatelegramwhichhesenttoSt。Paul。Thistelegram，accordingtotheduplicateatthestation，readinthispuzzlingway：
E。O。，ExchangeBlock，No。96。Alloutofpaper。Sendfivehundrednoteheadsandenvelopestomatch。Businessbrisk。Pressofcorrespondencejustnow。Getthemoutquick。Wire。
SANFORD
Twoorthreeotherscameinafteralittlemoney，butheputthemoffeasily。“Justbeencashingsomepaper，andtookallthereadycashIcanspare。Can’tyouwaittilltomorrow？Link’sgonedowntoSt。Paultocollectonsomepaper。Bebackonthefiveo’clock。
Nineo’clock，sure。“
AnoldNorwegianwomancameintodeposittendollars，andhecounteditinbriskly，andputtheamountdownonherlittlebookforher。BarneyMacecameintodepositahundreddollars，theproceedsofahorsesale，andthishelpedhimthroughtheday。
Thosewhowantedsmallsumshepaid。
“Gladthisain’tabigdemand。Rathercloseoncashtoday，“hesaid，smiling，asLincoln’swife’ssistercamein。
Shelaughed，“Iguessitwon’tbustyeh。IfIthoughtitwould，I’dleaveitin。“
“Busted!“hesaid，whenVancewantedhimtocashadraft。“Can’tdoit。Sorry，Van。Doitinthemorningallright。Canyouwait？“
“Oh，Iguessso。Hafto，won’tI？“
“Curious，“saidSanford，inaconfidentialway。“Idon’tknowthatI
eversawthingsgetinjustsuchshape。Paperenough-butexchange，yeknow，andreadjustmentofaccounts。“
“Idon’tknowmuchaboutbanking，myself，“saidVance，goodnaturedly；“butIs’poseit’sagood’ealsameaswithaman。Gitshorto’cash，firsttheyknow-ain’tgotacenttospare。“
“That’stheideaexactly。Creditallright，plentyo’property，but-“
andhesmiledandwentathisbooks。ThesmilediedoutofhiseyesasVancewentout，andhepulledalittlemoroccobookfromhispocketandbeganstudyingthebeautifulcolumnsoffigureswithwhichitseemedtobefilled。Thosehecomparedwiththebookswithgreatcare，thrustingthebookoutofsightwhenanyoneentered。
Heclosedthebankasusualatfive。Lincolnhadnotcomecouldn’tcomenowtillthenine-o’clockaccommodation。Foranhouraftertheshadesweredrawnhesatthereinthesemidarkness，silentlyponderingonhissituation。Thisattitudeanddeepquietwereunusualtohim。Heheardthefeetoffriendsandneighborspassingthedoorashesattherebythesmolderingcoalfire，inthegrowingdarkness。Therewassomethingimpressiveinhisattitude。
Hestartedupatlastandtriedtoseewhatthehourwasbyturningthefaceofhiswatchtothedullglowfromthecannonstoye’sopendoor。
“Suppertime，“hesaidandthrewthewholematteroff，asifhehaddecideditorhadputoffthedecisiontillanothertime。
AshewentbythepostofficeVancesaidtoMcllvaineinasmilingway，asifitwereagoodjokeonSanford：
“Littleshorto’cashdownatthebank。“
“He’sagoodfellow，“Mcllvainesaid。
“So’shiswife，“addedVancewithachuckle。
III
Thatnight，aftersupper，Sanfordsatinhissnuglittlesktingroomwithababyoneachknee，lookingascheerfulandhappyasanymaninthevillage。Thechildrencrowedandshoutedashe“trottedthemtoBoston，“orrodethemonthetoeofhisboot。Theymadeanoisy，merrygroup。
Mrs。Sanford“didherownwork，“andherswiftfeetcouldbeheardmovingtoandfrooutinthekitchen。Itwaspleasantthere；
thewoodwork，thefurniture，thestove，thecurtains-allhadthatlookofnewnessjustgrowingintocoziness。Thecoalstovewaslightedandthecurtainsweredrawn。
Aftertheworkinthekitchenwasdone，Mrs。Sanfordcameinandsatawhilebythefirewiththechildren，lookingverywifelyinherdarkdressandwhiteapron，herround，smilingfaceglowingwithloveandpride-thegloatinglookofamotherseeingherchildreninthearmsofherhusband。
“HowisMrs。Peterson’sbaby，Jim？“shesaidsuddenly，herfacesobering。
“Prettybad，Iguess。La，la，la-deedle-dee!Thedoctorseemedtothinkitwasatightsqueakifitlived。Guessit’sdonefor-oop’egoes!“
Shemadealittleleapattheyoungestchildandclaspeditconvulsivelytoherbosom。Herswiftmaternalimaginationhadmadeanother’slossverynearandterrible。
“Oh，say，Nell，“hebrokeout，onseeinghersober，“IhadtheconfoundedesttimetodaywitholdladyBingham-“
“’Sh!Baby’sgonetosleep。“
Afterthechildrenhadbeenputtobedinthelittlealcoveoffthesittingroom，Mrs。Sanfordcameback，tofindJimabsorbedoveralittlebookofaccounts。
“Whatareyoustudying，Jim？“
Someoneknockedonthedoorbeforehehadtimetoreply。
“Comein!“hesaid。
’Sh!Don’tyellso，“hiswifewhispered。
“Telegram，Jim，“saidavoiceintheobscurity。
“Oh!Thatyou，Sam？Comein。
Sam，alathyfellowwithaquidinhischeek，steppedin。“Howd’’edo，Mis’Sanford？“
“Setdown-se’down。“
“Can’tstop；’mosttraintime。“
Sanfordtoretheenvelopeopen，readthetelegramrapidly，thesmilefadingoutofhisface。Hereaditagain，wordforword，thensatlookingatit。
“Anyanswer？“askedSam。
“Allright。Goodnight。“
“Goodnight。“
Afterthedoorslammed，Sanfordtookthesheetfromtheenvelopeandrereadit。Atlengthhedroppedintohischair。“Thatsettlesit，“
hesaidaloud。
“Settleswhat？What’sthenews？“Hiswifecameupandlookedoverhisshoulder。
“SettlesI’vegottogoonthatnine-thirtytrain。“
“Bebackonthemorningtrain？“
“Yes；Iguessso-Imean，ofcourse-I’llhavetobe-toopenthebank。“
Mrs。Sanfordlookedathimforafewsecondsinsilence。Therewassomethinginhislook，andespeciallyinhistone，thattroubledher。
“Whatdoyoumean？Jim，youdon’tintendtocomeback!“Shetookhisarm。“What’sthematter？Nowtellme!Whatareyougoingawayfor？“
Heknewhecouldnotdeceivehiswife’searsandeyesjustthen，soheremainedsilent。“We’vegottoleave，Nell，“headmittedatlast。
“Why？Whatfor？“
“BecauseI’mbusted-broke-goneupthespout-andalltherest!“hesaiddesperately，withanattemptatfun。“Mrs。BinghamandMrs。
McIlvainehavebustedme-dead。“
“Why-why-whathasbecomeofthemoney-allthemoneythepeoplehaveputinthere？“
“Goneupwiththerest。“
“What’veyoudonewithit？Idon’t-“
“Well，I’veinvestedit-andlostit。“
“JamesGordonSanford!“sheexclaimed，tryingtorealizeit。“Wasthatright？Ain’tthatacaseof-of-“
“Shouldn’twonder。Acaseofembezzlementsuchasyoureadofinthenewspapers。“Histonewaseasy，butheavoidedthelookinhiswife’sbeautifulgrayeyes。
“Butit’s-stealing-ain’tit？“Shestaredathim，bewilderedbyhisrecklesslightnessofmood-“Itisnow，becauseI’velost。IfI’d’awonit，it’ud’a’beenfinancialshrewdness!“
Sheaskedhernextquestionafterapause，inalowvoice，andthroughteethalmostset。“Didyougointothisbankto-stealthismoney？Tellmethat!“
“No；Ididn’t，Nell。Iain’tquiteuptothat。“
Hisanswersoftenedheralittle，andshesatlookingathimsteadllyashewenton。Thetearsbegantorollslowlydownhercheeks。Herhandswereclenched。
“Thefactis，theideacameintomyheadlastfallwhenIwentuptoSuperior。Mypartnerwantedmetogoinwithhimonsomeland，andIdid。Wespeculatedonthegrowthofthetowntowardthesouth。Wemadeastrike；thenhewantedmetogoinonacoppermine。OfcourseIexpected-“
Ashewentonwiththeusualexcuseshermindmadealltheallowancespossibleforhim。Hehadalwaysbeenboyish，impulsive，andlackinginjudgmentandstrengthofcharacter。Shewashumiliatedandfrightened，butshelovedandsympathizedwithhim。
Hersilencealarmedhim，andhemadeexcusesforhimself。Hewasspeculatingforhersakemorethanforhisown，andsoon。
“Cho-coo!“whistledthefar-offtrainthroughthestillair。
Hesprangupandreachedforhiscoat。
Sheseizedhisarmagain。“Whereareyougoing？“shesternlyasked。
“Totakethattrain。“
’Whenareyoucomingback？“
“Idon’tknow。“Buthistonesaid，“Never。“
Shefeltit。Herfacegrewbitter。“Goingtoleavemeand-thebabies？“
“I’llsendforyousoon。Come，goodbye!“Hetriedtoputhisarmabouther。Shesteppedback。
“Jim，ifyouleavemetonight““Choo-choo!“whistledtheengine
“youleavemeforever。“Therewasaterribleresolutioninhertone。
“Whatdoyoumean？“
“ImeanthatI’mgoingtostayhere。Ifyougo-I’llneverbeyourwife-again-never!“Sheglancedatthesleepingchildren，andherchintrembled。
“Ican’tfacethosefellows-they’llkillme，“hesaidinasullentone。
“No，theywon’t。They’llrespectyou，ifyoustayandtell’emexactlyhow-it-all-is。You’vedisgracedmeandmychildren，that’swhatyou’vedone!Ifyoudon’tstay-“
Theclearjangleoftheenginebellsoundedthroughthenightaswiththewhizofescapingsteamandscrapeandjarofgrippingbrakesandhowlofwheelsthetraincametoastopatthestation。
Sanforddroppedhiscoatandsatdownagain。