So heavy were the withdrawals, that every one expected the institution to close its doors.
Yet, for a while, the County National held out amazingly well. It called in all funds, and paid off depositors in full. One hope was support from Harvey Bronlon. Had the feudal lord of the territory come to the aid of the stricken bank, withdrawals might have stopped. But Bronlon refused to help. With that announcement, two days after the trouble had begun, the County National closed its doors. Its branches crashed with it, and the lesser institutions dependent upon the central bank failed also. It had required a total lack of confidence to accomplish this, for a great percentage of the depositors had been paid in full before the doors were closed.
The Middletown Trust Company was the only bank left in the entire region. Those who had saved their money from the County National crash were wavering. Then, with a general rush, they began to deposit their money in the Trust Company.
At the same time, doubtful persons were withdrawing their money. The volume of business was tremendous. Ferret and Butcher were deluged with work, at the tellers windows.
Major was busy at his job; and over all, the benign countenance of Judge was there to promote confidence. The gray-haired bank president announced emphatically that deposits were exceeding withdrawals. And upon the heels of this announcement, Harvey Bronlon declared that he had complete confidence in the affairs of the institution.
This brought the situation under control. The people who crowded the Trust Company's office were there to put in money — not to take it out.
For Middletown was a most prosperous community, and the crash of its oldest bank was laid directly to the fact that many thousands of dollars had been taken from its treasury. Hubert Salisbury was denounced as the culprit. The police tried to force a confession from him. Thus did Middletown enter into the most exciting period of its history, when the great bubble of expansion and industrial development threatened to burst with the collapse of the staid old County National Bank.
But the inexhaustible funds of the Middletown Trust Company proved well that this newer institution was capable of serving the needs of the district.
It was during the first days of readjustment that a gentleman named Henry Arnaud registered at the Darthmore Hotel, the huge, modern structure that had been financed by Harvey Bronlon. There were many visitors to Middletown, and this man was merely another guest at the new hotel. Yet Henry Arnaud was of unusual appearance. Tall, quiet of demeanor, and deliberate in action, he wore a countenance that never changed in its expression.
On the day of his arrival in Middletown, he might have been seen watching the crowds surging into the County National Bank, which was destined to close its doors shortly afterward.