Yet, as it developed, his military connection was not sufficient fully to protect him. If he had been put to a test as a soldier, and had met it bravely and successfully, he was now to be put to a still greater test as a civilian.
It was about two weeks after the armory incident that Hal stood one day in the receiving teller’s cage at the bank, at the noon hour, relieving the teller, who had gone to luncheon. He saw the senior Barriscale enter the lobby and pass back to the president’s room. He thought nothing of it, as Mr. Barriscale was one of the directors of the bank and was frequently in to consult with the officers. But, ten minutes later, Mr. Winton, the president, crossed the counting-room to the teller’s cage, and spoke to Hal.
“McCormack,” he said, “will you please come into my room for a few minutes? Mr. Hanes will relieve you at the counter.”
As they walked back together the president continued:
“Mr. Barriscale, who, as you know, is one of our directors, has called my attention to a matter which seriously concerns you. I believe the better way is for you to take it up with him in person. That is the reason I have called you.”
Hal knew, instinctively, the nature of Mr. Barriscale’s errand, and he knew that he had reached another crisis in his career. But, neither by word nor look, did he exhibit any apprehension.
In the president’s room, in a chair by the table, the millionaire manufacturer was sitting. Big-bodied, square-jawed, with heavy moustache and closely cropped beard, he looked the determined and aggressive man that he was. He nodded as Hal entered the room, but he made no other sign, and gave no word, of recognition.
The president opened the conversation by saying:
“Mr. Barriscale desires to speak to you on a matter which he believes to be of considerable importance both to you and to the bank.”
The manufacturer, accustomed to efficiency in business methods, went at once to the heart of his errand.