t of the Empire, said the banks had to employ
Chinese clerks."

Why waste words? What were real facts, or the experience of a lifetime
against such unimpeachable authority as Mr. Pinkey Chalmers and the
captain of a Pacific steamer! Why condemn the little bride, for after
all she was human. Nationally and individually, the tighter we hug our
own sins and hide their faces, the more clearly we can see the distorted
features of our neighbor's weakness. There was more of pity than anger
due a person who, ignoring all the beauty in the treasure house before
her, chose as a souvenir a warped and very ancient skeleton of a truth
and found the same pleasure in dangling it, that a child would in
exhibiting a newly-extracted tooth.

Mr. Chalmers had been talking to Zura, but when he caught the word
"bank" he included the entire company in his conversation. "Talking
banks, are you? Well that is a pretty sore subject with me. Just lost my
whole fortune in a bank. Had it happened before the wedding I'd have
been obliged to put the soft pedals on the merry marriage bells. Guess
you heard about the million-dollar robbery of the Chicago Bank; biggest
pile any one fellow ever got away with. And that's the wonder: he got
clean away, simply faded into nothing. It happened months ago and not a
trace of him since. Detectives everywhere are on the keen jump; big
reward hung up. He's being gay somewhere with seventy-five dollars of my
good money."

Tea was served and we indulged in much small talk, but I was not sorry
when Pinkey said he "must be moving along" to the steamer. He charged us
to wireless him, if we saw a strange man standing around with a bushel
of gold concealed about his person. It was sure to be the missing
cashier. "By-the-way," he asked, pausing at the door, "where is that
chap I met when I was here before, who took such an interest in my
business? Maybe he is among those absent wanted ones. What was he doing
here anyhow?"

Zura answered with what I thought unnecessary color that Mr. Hanaford
was in the city, and was soon to be promoted to a very high position in
the educational world.

Pinkey looked into her face and, turning, gave me a violent wink. "Oho!
Now I'm getting wise." At the same time humming a strain supposed to be
from a wedding march.

Oh, but I wished I could slap him! Think of his seeing in a wink what I
hadn't seen in months!

My visitors said good-by and went their happy way, but in the story of