A Rock in the Baltic | Page 3

like a fool,
and now those two stood quite calmly together, he handing her the
money, and thus spreading a mantle of innocence over the vile trick.
But whatever was happening in the bank, he would secure two of the
culprits at least. The two, quite oblivious of the danger that threatened
them, were somewhat startled by a panting man, trembling with rage,
bareheaded, and flourishing a deadly weapon, sweeping down upon
them.
"Come back to the bank instantly, you two!" he shouted.
"Why?" asked the Lieutenant in a quiet voice.
"Because I say so, for one thing."
"That reason is unanswerable," replied the Lieutenant with a slight
laugh, which further exasperated his opponent. "I think you are exciting
yourself unnecessarily. May I beg you to put that pistol in your pocket?
On the cruiser we always cover up the guns when ladies honor us with
their presence. You wish me to return because I had no authority for
taking the money? Right: come along."
The cashier regarded this as bluff, and an attempt to give the woman
opportunity to escape.
"You must come back also," he said to the girl.
"I'd rather not," she pleaded in a low voice, and it was hardly possible
to have made a more injudicious remark if she had taken the whole
afternoon to prepare.
Renewed determination shone from the face of the cashier.
"You must come back to the bank," he reiterated.

"Oh, I say," protested the Lieutenant, "you are now exceeding your
authority. I alone am the culprit. The young lady is quite blameless, and
you have no right to detain her for a moment."
The girl, who had been edging away and showing signs of flight, which
the bareheaded man, visibly on the alert, leaned forward ready to
intercept, seemed to make up her mind to bow to the inevitable.
Ignoring the cashier, she looked up at the blond Lieutenant with a slight
smile on her pretty lips.
"It was really all my fault at the beginning," she said, "and very stupid
of me. I am slightly acquainted with the bank manager, and I am sure
he will vouch for me, if he is there."
With that she turned and walked briskly toward the bank, at so rapid a
pace as to indicate that she did not wish an escort. The bareheaded
official found his anger unaccountably deserting him, while a great fear
that he had put his foot in it took its place.
"Really," said the Lieutenant gently, as they strode along together, "an
official in your position should be a good judge of human nature. How
any sane person, especially a young man, can look at that beautiful girl
and suspect her of evil, passes my comprehension. Do you know her?"
"No," said the cashier shortly. "Do you?"
The Lieutenant laughed genially.
"Still suspicious, eh?" he asked. "No, I don't know her, but to use a
banking term, you may bet your bottom dollar I'm going to. Indeed, I
am rather grateful to you for your stubbornness in forcing us to return.
It's a quality I like, and you possess it in marvelous development, so I
intend to stand by you when the managerial censure is due. I'm very
certain I met your manager at the dinner they gave us last night. Mr.
Morton, isn't he?"
"Yes," growled the cashier, in gruff despondency.

"Ah, that's awfully jolly. One of the finest fellows I've met in ten years.
Now, the lady said she was acquainted with him, so if I don't wheedle
an introduction out of him, it will show that a man at a dinner and a
man in a bank are two different individuals. You were looking for plots;
so there is mine laid bare to you. It's an introduction, not gold, I'm
conspiring for."
The cashier had nothing further to say. When they entered the bank
together he saw the clerks all busily at work, and knew that no startling
event had happened during his absence. The girl had gone direct to the
manager's room, and thither the young men followed her. The bank
manager was standing at his desk, trying to preserve a severe financial
cast of countenance, which the twinkle in his eyes belied. The girl, also
standing, had evidently been giving him a rapid sketch of what had
occurred, but now fell into silence when accuser and accomplice
appeared.
The advent of the Englishman was a godsend to the manager. He was
too courteous a gentleman to laugh in the face of a lady who very
seriously was relating a set of incidents which appealed to his sense of
humor, so the coming of the Lieutenant enabled him to switch off his
mirth on another subject, and in reply to the officer's cordial
"Good-morning, Mr. Morton,"