g money upon them, and at last selling them, had been bequeathed
to him in Mr. Clifford's will, of which he was himself the executor. He
had, as he persuaded himself, only forestalled the possession of them.
But a letter he had received from Mr. Clifford, informing him that he
was on his way home, with the purpose of thoroughly investigating the
affairs of the bank, had fallen like a thunderbolt upon him, and upon
Acton, through whose agency he had managed to dispose of the securities
without arousing any suspicion.

Early the next morning Mr. Clifford arrived at the bank, and heard to
his great surprise that his partner had started for London, and had been
away the day before; possibly, Madame Sefton suggested with some
anxiety, in the hope of meeting him there. No doubt he would be back
early, for it was the day of the May fair, when there was always an
unusual stir of business. Mr. Clifford took his place in the vacant bank
parlor, and waited somewhat grimly for the arrival of the head clerk,
Acton.

There was a not unpleasant excitement among the clerks, as they
whispered to each other on arrival that old Clifford was come and Roland
Sefton was still absent. But this excitement deepened into agitation and
misgiving as the hour for opening the bank drew near and Acton did not
arrive. Such a circumstance had never occurred before, for Acton had
made himself unpopular with those beneath him by expecting devotion
equal to his own to the interests of the firm. When ten o'clock was
close at hand a clerk ran round to Acton's lodgings; but before he could
return a breathless messenger rushed into the bank as the doors were
thrown open, with the tidings that the head clerk had been found by his
landlady lying dead in his bed.

More quickly than if the town-crier had been sent round the streets with
his bell to announce the news, it was known that Roland Sefton was
missing and the managing clerk had committed suicide. The populace from
all the country round was flocking into the town for the fair, three
fourths of whom did business with the Old Bank. No wonder that a panic
took possession of them. In an hour's time the tranquil street was
thronged with a dense mass of town's-people and country-people, numbers
of whom were fighting their way to the bank as if for dear life. There
was not room within for the crowds who struggled to get to the counters
and present their checks and bank-notes, and demand instant settlement
of