uld of necessity hear
the faintest sound. As a rule there was no light left in the manager's
room, and the other door--that leading into the hall--was bolted from
the inside by James Fairbairn the moment he had satisfied himself that
the premises were safe, and he had begun his night-watch. An electric
bell in both the offices communicated with Mr. Ireland's bedroom and
that of his son, Mr. Robert Ireland, and there was a telephone installed
to the nearest district messengers' office, with an understood signal
which meant 'Police.'

"At nine o'clock in the morning it was the night watchman's duty, as
soon as the first cashier had arrived, to dust and tidy the manager's
room, and to undo the bolts; after that he was free to go home to his
breakfast and rest.

"You will see, of course, that James Fairbairn's position in the English
Provident Bank is one of great responsibility and trust; but then in
every bank and business house there are men who hold similar positions.
They are always men of well-known and tried characters, often old
soldiers with good-conduct records behind them. James Fairbairn is a
fine, powerful Scotchman; he had been night watchman to the English
Provident Bank for fifteen years, and was then not more than forty-three
or forty-four years old. He is an ex-guardsman, and stands six feet
three inches in his socks.

"It was his evidence, of course, which was of such paramount importance,
and which somehow or other managed, in spite of the utmost care
exercised by the police, to become public property, and to cause the
wildest excitement in banking and business circles.

"James Fairbairn stated that at eight o'clock in the evening of March
25th, having bolted and barred all the shutters and the door of the back
premises, he was about to lock the manager's door as usual, when Mr.
Ireland called to him from the floor above, telling him to leave that
door open, as he might want to go into the office again for a minute
when he came home at eleven o'clock. James Fairbairn asked if he should
leave the light on, but Mr. Ireland said: 'No, turn it out. I can switch
it on if I want it.'

"The night watchman at the English Provident Bank has permission to
smoke, he also is allowed a nice fire, and a tray consisting of a plate
of substantial sandwiches and one glass of ale, which he can take when
he likes. James Fairbairn settled himself in front of the fire, lit his
pipe, took out his newspaper, and began to