that something unusual was about to happen, and those magnates had
rushed to the paying teller's side. "Do you know that signature?" said
the old man with a gleam in his eye. Now it was the teller's turn to
feel wretched. "Pay five hundred and fifty thousand--Babbit, soap man!
oh! what an idiot I am!" All this went through his head. The president,
the cashier, abased themselves before the irate old man. It was all a
mistake! They assured him! They assured him! Beg pardon! Impertinence of
new teller. And a' that, and a' that. But it would not do! The money
went to another bank, and a business worth thousands of dollars annually
was lost, together with the natural prestige of such patronage. There
was what I should call