."

"Oh, my Lord, this overwhelms me!" said Dunn, and covered his eyes with
his hand.

CHAPTER II. "THE RUN FOR GOLD"

The great Ossory Bank, with its million sterling of paid-up capital, its
royal charter, its titled directory, and its shares at a premium, stood
at the top of Patrick Street, Kilkenny, and looked, in the splendor of
its plate-glass windows and the security of its iron railings, the very
type of solvency and safety. The country squire ascended the hall-door
steps with a sort of feeling of acquaintanceship, for he had known the
Viscount who once lived there in days before the Union, and the farmer
experienced a sense of trustfulness in depositing his hard-earned gains
in what he regarded as a temple of Croesus. What an air of prosperity
and business did the interior present! The massive doors swung
noiselessly at the slightest touch, meet emblem of the secrecy that
prevailed, and the facility that pervaded all transactions, within. What
alacrity, too, in that numerous band of clerks who counted and cashed
and checked unceasingly! How calmly they passed from desk to desk, a
word, a mere whisper, serving for converse; and then what a grand and
mysterious solemnity about that back office with its double doors,
within which some venerable cashier, bald-headed and pursy, stole
at intervals to consult the oracle who dwelt within! In the spacious
apartment devoted to cash operations, nothing denoted the former destiny
of the mansion but a large fireplace, with a pretentious chimney-piece
of black oak, over which a bust of our gracious Queen now figured, an
object of wonderment and veneration to many a frieze-coated gazer.

On the morning of the 12th August, to which day we have brought our
present history, the street in front of the Bank presented a scene of no
ordinary interest. From an early hour people continued to pour in, till
the entire way was choked up with carriages and conveyances of every
description, from the well-equipped barouche of the country gentleman to
the humblest "shandradan" of the petty farmer. Sporting-looking fellows
upon high-conditioned thoroughbreds, ruddy old squires upon cobs,
and hard-featured country-folk upon shaggy ponies, were all jammed up
together amidst a dense crowd of foot passengers. A strong police-force
was drawn up in front of the Bank, although nothing in the appearance of
the assembled mass seemed to denote the necessity for their presence.
A low murmur of