The two men sat down at the desk together, and after the necessary papers had been prepared and signed, Mr. Harkins handed over one thousand dollars in fresh banknotes.
Half an hour later the lawyer put his hat and coat on and started towards the bank where he had an appointment with John Black. The door was closed when he arrived; but following his usual custom he entered without knocking. The banker’s back was turned to him at the time, and when he heard the door open and close, Mr. Black cried out in a harsh voice:
“Who’s that? What are you doing there?”
“It is only I, John,” said the lawyer. “I came here to attend to a little matter of business.”
“Oh!” exclaimed the banker, changing his tone slightly at the sight of the lawyer. “I thought it was one of those impudent clerks coming in here without being civil enough to knock at the door.”
After this he started to walk up and down the office, stamping his feet and frowning in a very ugly manner. His expression was forbidding, and Mr. Coke looked at him in astonishment.
“What’s the matter, Black?” asked the lawyer. “You don’t seem to be in a very good humor this morning.”
“Good humor? I should say not. I’ve got a good notion to leave this town. A man’s property isn’t safe over night. You get no protection. You pay big taxes and put up with all sorts of inconveniences, and what do you get in return? That’s what I would like to know; what do you get in return?”
“Why what in the world are you driving at?” asked the lawyer; “what has happened?”
“Happened? Why everything’s happened. Some thief entered my house last night, got into the library, broke open my desk and stole a package of money that I had put there for safe keeping over night. What do you think of that? Wouldn’t you say that something had happened if your house had been broken into and your desk had been rifled? Wouldn’t you, I say? Wouldn’t you?”