I went out of the house, and walked the streets till eleven o’clock at night in utter misery. I returned home. Lilian told me ever so many things her mother had said, and was firmer than ever. The next morning when I went to the bank, I felt like a hopeless martyr.

“Mr. Bristlebach wishes to see you in the director’s room, Mr. Glasswood,” said the messenger to me.

The president looked stern when I entered the room, and I realized that some charge was pending against me.


CHAPTER VII.

A SHADOW OF SUSPICION.

I HAD not sinned against the bank in thought, word, or deed, and I had no fears of the result of an interview with the president. All my sorrows related to my domestic difficulty, which was hardly banished from my mind for a moment, though I did try to imagine what Mr. Bristlebach could possibly want of me. Whatever pecuniary trouble stared me in the face, I had never even been tempted to appropriate a penny belonging to the bank.

“Mr. Glasswood, I have sent for you,” said Mr. Bristlebach, sternly.

“Yes, sir; and I am here,” I replied, very respectfully.