VERY HARD CASH.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND."

CHAPTER XXV.

To return to the Bank: Skinner came back
from the Dodds' that miserable afternoon, in a
state of genuine agitation, and regret. He was
human, and therefore mixed; and their desolation
had shocked him.

The footman told him Mr. Hardie was not at
home; gone to London, he believed. Skinner
walked away dejected. What did this mean?
Had he left the country?

He smiled at his fears, and felt positive Mr.
Hardie had misled the servants, and was quietly
waiting for him in the Bank parlour.

It was now dusk: he went round to that little
dark nook of the garden the parlour window
opened on, and tapped: there was no reply; the
room looked empty. He tried the sash: it
yielded: Mr. Hardie had been too occupied with
embezzling another's property to take common
precautions in defence of his own; never in his
life before had he neglected to fasten the iron
shutters with his own hand, and to-day he had
left the very window unfastened. This augured
ill. " He is off: he has done me along with the
rest," thought Skinner. He stepped into the
room, found a lucifer-box, shut the shutters,
lighted a candle, and went peering about amongst
the Banker's papers, to see if he could find a clue
to his intentions: and, as he pottered and peered,
he quaked as well: a detector by dishonest means
feels thief-like; and is what he feels. He made
some little discoveries, that guided him in his
own conduct; he felt more and more sure his
employer would outwit him if he could; and
resolved it should be diamond cut diamond.

The church clock struck one.

He started at the hour, crept out, and closed
the window softly: then away by the garden gate.

A light was still burning in Alfred's room:
and at this Skinner had another touch of
compunction; "There is one won't sleep this night,
along of our work," thought he.

At three next afternoon Mr. Hardie reappeared.

He had gone up to town to change the form of
the deposit:—He took care to think of it as a
deposit still, the act of deposit having been complete,
the withdrawal incomplete, and by no fault of his,
for he had offered it back; but Fate and Accident
had interposed— He had converted the notes into
gold direct, and the bills into gold through notes;
this was like going into the river to hide his
trail. Next process: he turned his gold into
£500 notes; and came flying home with them.

His return was greeted by Skinner with a sigh
of relief. Hardie heard it, interpreted it aright,
and sent for him into the parlour: and there told
him, with a great affectation of frankness, what
he had done: then asked significantly if there
was any news at Albion Villa.

Skinner, in reply, told Mr. Hardie of the
distress he had witnessed up at Albion Villa:
"And, sir," said he, lowering his voice, " Mr.
Alfred helped carry the body up-stairs. — It is a
nice mess altogether, sir, when you come to
think."

"Ah! all the better," was the cool reply; " he
will be useful to let us know what we want; he
will tell Jane, and Jane me. You don't think
he will live, do you?"

"Live! no: and then who will know the
money is here?"

"Who should know? Did not he say he had
just lauded, and been shipwrecked? Ship-
wrecked men do not bring fourteen
thousand pounds ashore." The speaker's eyes
sparkled; Skinner watched him demurely.
"Skinner," said he, solemnly, " I believe my
daughter Jane is right; and that Providence
really interferes sometimes in the affairs of this
world: you know how I have struggled, to save
my family from disgrace and poverty: those
struggles have failed in a great degree: but
Heaven has seen them, and saved this money
from the sea, and dropped it into my very hands
to retrieve my fortunes with. " I must be grateful:
spend a portion of it in charity; and rear
a noble fortune on the rest. Confound it all!"

And his crestfallen countenance showed some
ugly misgiving had flashed on him quite suddenly.

"What, sir? what?" asked Skinner, eagerly.

"The receipt?!"

CHAPTER XXVI.

"The receipt? Oh, is that all? you have got
that," said Skinner, very coolly.

"What makes you think so?" inquired the
other, keenly. He instantly suspected Skinner
of having it.