sir!" sharply replies the landlord.
"If there is a dangerous or disreputable person in my house, sir, I
would thank you to tell me, sir, and I will soon put him where the dogs
won't bite him, sir!"

"There is no use of unnecessary alarm, my friend," says A., in a low
tone; "the truth is, this person whom I have followed here, has made a
heavy _draw_ on one of our Boston banks, by means of certain checks and
certificates, and--"

"Oho! That's it, eh?" interposes the landlord, beginning to see his
guest in a more _dignified_ light, that of a splendid thief; so his
rigid frown, called in play by the supposition that a petty rascal was
on his premises, subsided into a wise smile, which A. interrupts with--

"You've hit it; but keep quiet! Don't let us go too _far_ before we're
sure the bird is in our cage. He's worth attending to; I'm not sure he's
_got_ the abstracted money about him; but when he settles with you, just
notice the size of his wallet, and its contents; may have an officer
handy, if you like. If he has a large roll of notes, especially on the
Traders' Bank, nab him, and keep him until I come," said A.

"Where do you stop, sir?" inquired the landlord.

"At the ----, Chestnut street," A. replies.

"Shall be attended to, sir, I warrant you. Is there a reward out, sir,
for this person?" says the landlord.

"O! no; it has all been kept quiet. _Policy_, you see; he left in such a
hurry, he thought he'd be lost sight of in this crowd here in your city.
If he has the money, we'll make 'a spec,' you understand?"

"I see, I see," said the befogged landlord; "I'll keep a sharp look out
for him, and let you know the moment I find him fairly out."

That afternoon, as B. called for his bill at the bar of ----'s Hotel,
the landlord was _about_, all in a _twitter_, with two policemen in the
distance, and sundry especial friends hanging about, to whom the
landlord had unbosomed the affair. All were anxiously watching the
result of the business. B. hands forth his capacious wallet, stuffed
with "_documents_" of the Traders' Bank, of Boston,--from which
institution he had _drawn_ a pile of funds, to invest in coal at
Richmond,--and no sooner did B. place an X, of the Traders' Bank, upon
the bar, than the excited landlord's eyes danced like shot on a hot
shovel, and giving the constables the _cue_, poor B. found himself
_waited upon_, in a brace of shakes, by those two custodians, while the
landlord grabbed the wallet