His countenance never revealed any emotions; but he took snuff wholesale—and that was a fearful omen.
"Well?" said Tomlinson, in a hoarse and hollow voice.
"Alderman Phipps just drawn for twelve hundred pounds, and Colonel Brown for eight hundred," replied the cashier.
"Two thousand gone in a minute!" ejaculated the banker.
"Shall I pay any more?" asked the cashier.
"Yes—pay, pay up to the last farthing!" answered Tomlinson. "An accident—a chance may save us, as oftentimes before! And yet methinks, Michael, that we never stood so near the verge of ruin as we do to-day."
"Never," said the old man coldly.
"And is there no expedient by which we can raise a few thousands, or even a few hundreds, for immediate wants?"
"None that I know of," returned Martin, taking more snuff.
At that moment Mr. Greenwood was announced, and Michael withdrew from the parlour.