第35章

Mrs。Binghamwasgettingmoreandmorebewildered。Shenowhadonlyoneclearidea-shecouldn’tgethermoney。Hervoicegrewtearfullikeanangrychild’s。

“Iwantmymoney-Iknewyou’dstealit-thatIworkedfor。Givememymoney。“

Sanfordhastilyhandedhersomemoney。“Here’sfiftydollars。Youcanhavetherestwhen-“

Theoldladyclutchedthemoney，andliterallyranoutofthedoor，andwentoffupthesidewalk，talkingincoherently。Toeveryoneshemetshetoldherstory；butthemensmiledandpassedon。Theyhadheardherpredictionsofcalamitybefore。

ButMrs。Mcllvainewasmadeatriffeuneasybyit“Hewouldn’tgiveyouy’rmoney？Ordidhesayhecouldn’t？“sheinquiredinhermoderateway。

“Hecouldn’t，an’hewouldn’t!“shesaid。“Ifyou’vegotanymoneythere，you’dbettergetitoutquick。Itain’tsafeaminute。WhenLincolncomeshomeI’mgoin’toseeifIcan’t-“

“Well，Iwascalc’latin’togotoLumbervillethisweek，anyway，tobuyacarpetandachamberset。IguessImight’swellgetthemoneytoday。“

Whenshecameinanddemandedthemoney，Sanfordwasscared。

Werethesetwooldwomenthebeginningofthedeluge？WouldMcPhailinsistonbeingpaidalso？Therewasjustonehundreddollarsleftinthebank，togetherwithalittlesilver。Withrarestrategyhesmiled。

“Certainly，Mrs。McIlvaine。Howmuchwillyouneed？“Shehadintendedtodemandthewholeofherdeposit-onehundredandseventeendollars-buthisreadinessmollifiedheralittle。“Idid’lowI’dtakethehull，butIguessseventy-fivedollars’lldo。“

Hepaidthemoneybrisklyoutoverthelittleglassshelf。“Howisyourchildren，Mrs。McIlvaine？“

“Purtywell，thanky，“repliedMrs。Mcllvaine，laboriouslycountingthebills。

“Isitallright？“

“Iguessso，“shereplieddubiously。“I’llcountitafterIgethome。“

Shewentupthestreetwiththefeelingthatthebankwasallright，andshesteppedinandtoldMrs。Binghamthatshehadnotroubleingettinghermoney。

AltershehadgoneSanfordsatdownandwroteatelegramwhichhesenttoSt。Paul。Thistelegram，accordingtotheduplicateatthestation，readinthispuzzlingway：

E。O。，ExchangeBlock，No。96。Alloutofpaper。Sendfivehundrednoteheadsandenvelopestomatch。Businessbrisk。Pressofcorrespondencejustnow。Getthemoutquick。Wire。

SANFORD

Twoorthreeotherscameinafteralittlemoney，butheputthemoffeasily。“Justbeencashingsomepaper，andtookallthereadycashIcanspare。Can’tyouwaittilltomorrow？Link’sgonedowntoSt。Paultocollectonsomepaper。Bebackonthefiveo’clock。

Nineo’clock，sure。“

AnoldNorwegianwomancameintodeposittendollars，andhecounteditinbriskly，andputtheamountdownonherlittlebookforher。BarneyMacecameintodepositahundreddollars，theproceedsofahorsesale，andthishelpedhimthroughtheday。

Thosewhowantedsmallsumshepaid。

“Gladthisain’tabigdemand。Rathercloseoncashtoday，“hesaid，smiling，asLincoln’swife’ssistercamein。

Shelaughed，“Iguessitwon’tbustyeh。IfIthoughtitwould，I’dleaveitin。“

“Busted!“hesaid，whenVancewantedhimtocashadraft。“Can’tdoit。Sorry，Van。Doitinthemorningallright。Canyouwait？“

“Oh，Iguessso。Hafto，won’tI？“

“Curious，“saidSanford，inaconfidentialway。“Idon’tknowthatI

eversawthingsgetinjustsuchshape。Paperenough-butexchange，yeknow，andreadjustmentofaccounts。“

“Idon’tknowmuchaboutbanking，myself，“saidVance，goodnaturedly；“butIs’poseit’sagood’ealsameaswithaman。Gitshorto’cash，firsttheyknow-ain’tgotacenttospare。“

“That’stheideaexactl

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节