Well，sonny？“hesaidtotheboy，whocamerunningup。
“Linkain’ttohome，an’Mrs。SanfordshesaysJim’ssickan’can’tcomedown。“
Therewasasilence。“Anybodyseehimthismorning？“askedWilson。
“Yes；Isawhim，“saidVance。“Lookedbad，too。“Thecrowdchanged；peoplecameandwent，sometogetnews，sometocarryitaway。Inashorttimethewholetownknewthebankhad“bustedalltosmash。“Farmersdrovealongandstoppedtofindoutwhatitallmeant。Themoretheytalked，themoreexcitedtheygrew；and“scoundrel，“and“Ialwayshadmydoubtsofthatfeller，“werephrasesgrowingmorefrequent。
Thelistofthevictimsgrewuntilitwasevidentthatneariyallofthesavingsofadozenor。moredepositorswereswallowedup，andthesumreachedwasnearlytwentythousanddollars。
“Whatdidhedowithit？“wasthequestion。Henevergambledordrank。Helivedfrugally。Therewasnoapparentcauseforthisfailureofatrustedinstitution。
Itwasbeginningtosnowingreat，damp，drivingflakes，whichmeltedastheyfell，givingtothestreetastrangenessandgloomthatwereimpressive。Themenleftthesidewalkatlastandgatheredinthesaloonsandstorestocontinuethediscussion。
Thecrowdattherailroadsaloonwasverydecidedinitsbelief。
Sanfordhadpocketedthemoneyandskipped。Thatyarnabouthisbeingathomesickwasablind。SomewentsofarastosaythatitwasalmightycuriouswhereLinkwas，hintingdarklythatthebankoughttobebrokeninto，andsoon。
UponthiscompanyburstBarneyandSamMacefrom“Hogan’sCorners。“Theywereexcitedbythenewsandalreadyinflamedwithdrink。
“Say!“yelledBarney，“anyo’youfellersknowany-thingaboutJimSanford？“
“No。Why？Gotanymoneythere？“
“Yes；andI’mgoin’togititout，ifIhaftosmashthedoorin。“
“That’sthetalk!“shoutedsomeoftheloafers。TheysprangupandsurroundedBarney。Therewassomethinginhisvoicethatarousedalltheirlatentferocity。“I’mgoin’togetintothatbankan’seehowthingslook，an’thenI’mgoin’tofindSanfordan’getmymoney，orpound-outof’im，oneo’thesix。“
“Gofindhimfirst。He’suphome，sick-so’shiswife。“
“I’llseewhetherhe’ssick’rnot。I’lldrag’imoutbythescruffo’theneck!Comeon!“Heendedwithasuddenresolution，leadingthewayoutintothestreet，wherethefallingsnowwassofteningthedirtintoastickymud。
ArabbleofadozenortwoofmenandboysfollowedMaceupthestreet。Heledthewaywithgreatstrides，shoutinghisthreats。Astheypassedalong，womenthrusttheirheadsoutatthewindows，asking，“What’sthematter？“Andsomeoneansweredeachtimeinavoiceofunconcealeddelight：
“Sanford’sstoleallthemoneyinthebank，andthey’regoin’uptolick’im。Comeonifyewanttoseethefun。“
Inafewmomentsthestreetlookedasifanalarmoffirehadbeensounded。Halfthetownseemedtobeout，andtheotherhalfcoming-womeninshawls，likesquaws；childrencaperingandlaughing；youngmengrinningatthegirlswhocameoutandstoodatthegates。
Someofthecitizenstriedtostopit。Vancefoundtheconstablelookingonandorderedhimtodohisdutyandstopthatcrowd。
“Ican’tdoanything，“hesaidhelplessly。“Theyain’tdonenawthin’
yet，an’Idon’tknow-“
“Oh，gitout!They’regoin’uptheretowhaleJim，an’youknowit。
Ifyoudon’tstop’em，I’lltelephonef’rthesheriff，andhaveyouarrestedwith’em。“
Underthispressure，theconstableranalongafterthecrowd，inanattempttostopit。Hereachedthemastheystoodaboutthelittleporchofthehouse，packedcloselyaroundBarneyandSam，whosaidnothing，butfollowedBarneylikehisshadow。Ifthesunhadbeenshining，itmightnothavehappenedasitdid；buttherewasasemi-obscurity，aweirdhalf-lightshedbythethickskyandfallingsnow，whichsomehowencouragedtheenragedruffians，whopoundedonthedoorjustasthepleadingvoiceoftheconstablewasheard。
“Holdon，gentlemen!Thisisag’instthelaw“Lawto-!“saidsomeone。“Thisisacasef’rsomethingbesideslaw。“
“Openupthere!“roaredtheraucousvoiceofBarneyMaceashepoundedatthedoorfiercely。
Thedooropened，andthewifeappeared，onechildinherarms，theotheratherside。
“Whatdoyouwant？“
“Where’sthatbanker？Tellthethieftocomeouthere!Wewanttotalkwithhim。“
Thewomandidnotquail，butherfaceseemedaghastlyyellow，seenthroughthefallingsnow。
“Hecan’tcome。He’ssick。“
“Sick!We’llsick’im!Tell’imt’comeout，orwe’llsnake’imoutbytheheels。“Thecrowdlaughed。Theworstelementsofthesaloonssurroundedthetwohalf-savagemen。Itwasamusingtothemtoseethewomanfacethemallinthatway。
“Where’sMcPhail？“Vanceinquiredanxiously。“Some-bodyfindMcPhail。“
“Standouto’theway!“snarledBarneyashepushedthestrugglingwomanaside。
Thewiferaisedhervoicetothatwild，animal-likepitchawomanuseswhendesperate。
“Ishan’tdoit，Itellyou!Help!“
“Keepouto’myway，orI’llwringy’rneckfryeh。“Shestruggledwithhim，buthepushedherasideandenteredtheroom。
“What’sgoin’onhere？“calledtheringingvoiceofAndrewMcPhail，whohadjustdrivenupwithLink。
SeveralofthecrowdlookedovertheirshouldersatMcPhail。
“Hello，Mac!Justintime。Oh，nawthin’。Barney’scallin’onthebanker，that’sall。“
Overtheheadsofthecrowd，packedstrugglingaboutthedoor，camethewoman’sscreamagain。McPhaildashedaroundthecrowd，runningtwoorthreeofthemdown，andenteredthebackdoor。Vance，McIlvaine，andLincolnfollowedhim。
“Cowards!“thewifesaidastheruffiansapproachedthebed。Theysweptheraside，butpausedaninstantbe-foretheglanceofthesickman’seye。Helaythere，desperately，deathlysick。Thebloodthrobbedinhiswhirlingbrain，hiseyeswerebloodshotandblinded，hisstrengthwasgone。Hecouldhardlyspeak。Hepartlyroseandstretchedouthishand，andthenfellback。
“Killme-ifyouwantto-butlether-alone。She’s-“
Thechildrenwerecrying。Thewindwhistleddrearilyacrosstheroom，carryingtheevanescentflakesofsoftsnowovertheheadsofthepausing，listeningcrowdinthedoorway。Quickstepswereheard。
“Holdonthere!“criedMcPhailasheburstintotheroom。HeseemedanangelofGodtothewifeandmother。
Hespreadhisgreatarmsinagesturewhichsuggestedirresistiblestrengthandresolution。“Clearout!Outwithye!“
Nomanhadeverseenhimlooklikethatbefore。Heawedthemwiththelookinhiseyes。Hislongserviceassheriffgavehimauthority。Hehustledthem，cuffedthemoutofthedoorlikeschoolboys。Barneybackedout，cursing。HeknewMcPhalltoowelltorefusetoobey。
McPhailpushedBarneyout，shutthedoorbehindhim，andstoodonthesteps，lookingatthecrowd。
“Well，you’reagreatlot!Youfellers，wouldyejumponasickman？Whatyethinkye’realldoin’，anyhow？“
Thecrowdlaughed。“Hey，Mac；giveusaspeech!“
“Yououghttobebooted，thewholeloto’yeh!“hereplied。
“Thathoun’inthere’srunthebankintotheground，witheverycento’moneywe’dputin，“saidBarney。“Is’poseyeknowthat。“
“Well，s’posehehas-what’stheuseo’jumpin’on“Gititoutofhishide。“
“I’veheerdthattalkbefore。Howmuchyougotin？“
“Twohundreddollars。“
“Well，I’vegottwothousand。“Thecrowdsawthepoint。
“Iguessifanybodywasgoin’t’takeitoutofhishide，I’dbetheman；butIwantthefellertoliveandhaveachancetopayitback。
Killin’’imisadeadloss。“
“That’sso!“shoutedsomebody。“Macain’tnofool，ifhedoeschawhay，“saidanother，andthecrowdlaughed。Theywerelosingthatfrenzy，largelyimitativeandinvoluntary，whichactuatesamob。
Therewassomethingcounteractingintheex-sheriff’scool，humoroustone。
“Giveustherestofit，Mac!“
“Therestofitisclearouto’here，’rI’llbooteverymother’ssonofyeh!“
“Can’tdoit!“
“Comedownan’tryit!“
McIlvaineopenedthedoorandlookedout。“Mac，Mrs。Sanfordwantstosaysomething-ifit’ssafe。“
“Safeaseatin’dinner。“
Mrs。Sanfordcameout，lookingpaleandalmostlikeachildasshestoodbesideherdefender’stoweringbulk。Butherfacewasresolute。
“Thatmoneywillbepaidback，“shesaid，“dollarfordollar，ifyou’lljustgiveusachance。AssoonasJimgetswellenougheverycentwillbepaid，IfIlive。“
Thecrowdreceivedthislittlespeechinsilence。Oneortwosaid，inlowvoices：“That’sbusiness。She’lldoit，too，ifanyonecan。“
Barneypushedhiswaythroughthecrowdwithcontemptuous。
curses。“The——shewill!“hesaid。
“We’llsee’tyouhaveachance，“McPhallandMcIlvaineassuredMrs。Sanford。
Shewentinandclosedthedoor。
“Nowgit!“saidAndrew，comingdownthesteps。Thecrowdscatteredwithlaughingtaunts。Heturnedandenteredthehouse。
Therestdriftedoffdownthestreetthroughthesoftflurriesofsnow，andinafewmomentsthestreetassumeditsusualappearance。
Thefailureofthebankandtheraidonthebankerhadpassedintohistory。
V
Inthelightofthedaysofcalmafterthoughtwhichfollowed，thisattemptuponthepeaceoftheSanfordhomegrewmoremonstrousandhelpedlargelytomitigatethefeelingagainstthebanker。
Besides，hehadnotrunaway；thatwasastrongpointinhisfavor。
“Don’tthatshow，“arguedVancetothepostoffice-“don’tthatshowhedidn’tintendtosteal？An’don’titshowhe’sgoin’totrytomakethingssquare？“
“Iguesswemightaswellthinkthatasanything。“
“Iclaimtheboyshasarightt’takesumpthin’outo’hishide，“BentWilsonstubbornlyinsisted。
“Ain’tenought’go’round，“laughedMcPhail。“Besides，Ican’thaveit。Linkan’Iownthebiggestsharein’im，an’wecan’thavehimhurt。“
McIlvaineandVancegrinned。“That’safact，Mac。Wefourfellersarethemainlosers。He’sours，an’wecan’thavehimfoundered’rcrippled’rcutupinanyway。Ain’tthatwomanofhisgritty？“
“Grittyain’tnonameforher。She’sgoin’intobusiness。“
“SoIhear。TheysayJimwascrawlingaroundalittleyesterday。I
didn’tsee。
“Idid。Helooksprettystreak-id-nowyoubet。“
“Wha’dhesayforhimself？“
“Oh，saidgive’imtime-he’dfixitallup。“
“Howmuchtime？“
“Timeenough。Hain’tbeenabletolookatabooksince。Say，ain’titalittlecurioushewassosickjustthen-sickasap’iseneddog？“
Thetwomenlookedateachotherinamannermostcomicallysignificant。Thethoughtofpoisonwasinthemindofeach。
ItwasunderthesetryingcircumstancesthatSanfordbegantocrawlabout，aweekortendaysafterhissickness。Itwasreallythemostterriblepunishmentforhim。Before，everybodyusedtosingout，“Hello，Jim!“-or“Mornin’，banker，“orsomeotherjovial，heartwarmingsalutation。Now，ashewentdownthestreet，thegroupsofmensmokingonthesunnysideofthestoresignoredhim，orlookedathimwithscornfulleyes。
Nobodysaid，“Hello，Jim!“-notevenMcPhailorVance。Theynoddedmerely，andwentonwiththeirsmoking。Thechildrenfollowedhimandstaredathimwithoutcompassion。Theyhadheardhimcalledascoundrelandathieftoooftenathometofeelanypityforhispaleface。
Afterhisfirsttripdownthestreet，brightwiththeDecembersunshine，hecamehomeinabitter，weakmood，smarting，achingwithapoignantself-pityoverthetreatmenthehadreceivedfromhisoldcronies。
“It’sallyourfault，“heburstouttohiswife。“Ifyou’donlyletmegoawayandlookupanotherplace，Iwouldn’thavetoputupwithallthesesneersandinsults。“