ake a deposit," said Keith, raising his voice a little, and
speaking with great distinctness.

His voice had the quality of carrying, and a silence settled on the
crowd,--one of those silences that sometimes fall, even on a mob, when
the wholly unexpected happens,--so that every word that was spoken was
heard distinctly.

"Ah--we are not taking deposits to-day," said the astonished teller,
doubtfully.

Keith smiled.

"Well, I suppose there is no objection to doing so? I have an account in
this bank, and I wish to add to it. I am not afraid of it."

The teller gazed at him in blank amazement; he evidently thought that
Keith was a little mad. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but said
nothing from sheer astonishment.

"I have confidence enough in this bank," pursued Keith, "to put my money
here, and here I propose to put it, and I am not the only one; there
will be others here in a little while."

"I shall--really, I shall have to ask Mr. Wentworth," faltered the
clerk.

"Mr. Wentworth has nothing to do with it," said Keith, positively, and
to close the discussion, he lifted his satchel through the window, and,
turning it upside down, emptied before the astonished teller a pile of
bills which made him gasp. "Enter that to my credit," said Keith.

"How much is it?"

The sum that Keith mentioned made him gasp yet more. It was up in the
hundreds of thousands.

"There will be more here in a little while." He turned his head and
glanced toward the door. "Ah, here comes some one now," he said, as he
recognized one of the men whom he had recently left at the council
board, who was then pushing his way forward, under the guidance of
several policemen.

The amount deposited by the banker was much larger than Keith had
expected, and a few well-timed words to those about him had a marked
effect upon the depositors. He said their apprehension was simply
absurd. They, of course, had the right to draw out their money, if they
wished it, and they would get it, but he advised them to go home and
wait to do so until the crowd dispersed. The bank was perfectly sound,
and they could not break it unless they could also break its friends.

A few of the struggling depositors dropped out of line, some of the
others saying that, as they had waited so long, they guessed they would
get their money now.

The advice given, perhaps, had an added effect, as at that moment a
shriek arose from a woman near the door, who declared tha