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 such matters; Bunny。 I ask you; was there ever a better get…out?  Last night's was something like it; only never such a certainty。  And I saw it from the beginningsaw to the end before I had finished my soup!

〃To increase my chances; the cashier; who also lived in the bank; was away over the holidays; had actually gone down to Melbourne to see us play; and the man who had taken my horse also waited at table; for he and his wife were the only servants; and they slept in a separate building。  You may depend I ascertained this before we had finished dinner。  Indeed I was by way of asking too many questions (the most oblique and delicate was that which elicited my host's name; Ewbank); nor was I careful enough to conceal their drift。

〃'Do you know;' said this fellow Ewbank; who was one of the downright sort; 'if it wasn't you; I should say you were in a funk of robbers?  Have you lost your nerve?'

〃'I hope not;' said I; turning jolly hot; I can tell you; 'butwell; it is not a pleasant thing to have to put a bullet through a fellow!'

〃'No?' said he; coolly。  'I should enjoy nothing better; myself; besides; yours didn't go through。'

〃'I wish it had!' I was smart enough to cry。

〃'Amen!' said he。

〃And I emptied my glass; actually I did not know whether my wounded bank…robber was in prison; dead; or at large!

〃But; now that I had had more than enough of it; Ewbank would come back to the subject。  He admitted that the staff was small; but as for himself; he had a loaded revolver under his pillow all night; under the counter all day; and he was only waiting for his chance。

〃'Under the counter eh?' I was ass enough to say。

〃'Yes; so had you!'

〃He was looking at me in surprise; and something told me that to say 'of courseI had forgotten!' would have been quite fatal; considering what I was supposed to have done。  So I looked down my nose and shook my head。

〃'But the papers said you had!' he cried。

〃'Not under the counter;〃 said I。

〃'But it's the regulation!'

〃For the moment; Bunny; I felt stumped; though I trust I only looked more superior than before; and I think I justified my look。

〃'The regulation!' I said at length; in the most offensive tone at my command。  'Yes; the regulation would have us all dead men!  My dear sir; do you expect your bank robber to let you reach for your gun in the place where he knows it's kept?  I had mine in my pocket; and I got my chance by retreating from the counter with all visible reluctance。'

〃Ewbank stared at me with open eyes and a five…barred forehead; then down came his fist on the table。

〃'By God!  That was smart!  Still;' he added; like a man who would not be in the wrong; 'the papers said the other thing; you know!'

〃'Of course;' I rejoined; 'because they said what I told them。  You wouldn't have had me advertise the fact that I improved upon the bank's regulations; would you?'

〃So that cloud rolled over; and by Jove it was a cloud with a golden lining。  Not silverreal good Australian gold!  For old Ewbank hadn't quite appreciated me till then; he was a hard nut; a much older man than myself; and I felt pretty sure he thought me young for the place; and my supposed feat a fluke。  But I never saw a man change his mind more openly。  He got out his best brandy; he made me throw away the cigar I was smoking; and opened a fresh box。  He was a convivial…looking party; with a red moustache; and a very humorous face (not unlike Tom Emmett's); and from that moment I laid myself out to attack him on his convivial flank。  But he wasn't a Rosenthall; Bunny; he had a treble…seamed; hand…sewn head; and could have drunk me under the table ten times over。

〃'All right;' I thought; 'you may go to bed sober; but you'll sleep like a timber…yard!'  And I threw half he gave me through the open window; when he wasn't looking。

〃But he was a good chap; Ewbank; and don't you imagine he was at all intemperate。  Convivial I called him; and I only wish he had been something more。  He did; however; become more and more genial as the evening advanced; and I had not much difficulty in getting him to show me round the bank at what was really an unearthly hour for such a proceeding。  It was when he went to fetch the revolver before turning in。  I kept him out of his bed another twenty minutes; and I knew every inch of the business premises before I shook hands with Ewbank in my room。

〃You won't guess what I did with myself for the next hour。  I undressed and went to bed。  The incessant strain involved in even the most deliberate impersonation is the most wearing thing I know; then how much more so when the impersonation is impromptu!  There's no getting your eye in; the next word may bowl you out; it's batting in a bad light all through。  I haven't told you of half the tight places I was in during a conversation that ran into hours and became dangerously intimate towards the end。  You can imagine them for yourself; and then picture me spread out on my bed; getting my second wind for the big deed of the night。

〃Once more I was in luck; for I had not been lying there long before I heard my dear Ewbank snoring like a harmonium; and the music never ceased for a moment; it was as loud as ever when I crept out and closed my door behind me; as regular as ever when I stopped to listen at his。  And I have still to hear the concert that I shall enjoy much more。  The good fellow snored me out of the bank; and was still snoring when I again stood and listened under his open window。

〃Why did I leave the bank first?  To catch and saddle the mare and tether her in a clump of trees close by: to have the means of escape nice and handy before I went to work。  I have often wondered at the instinctive wisdom of the precaution; unconsciously I was acting on what has been one of my guiding principles ever since。  Pains and patience were required: I had to get my saddle without waking the man; and I was not used to catching horses in a horse…paddock。  Then I distrusted the poor mare; and I went back to the stables for a hatful of oats; which I left with her in the clump; hat and all。  There was a dog; too; to reckon with (our very worst enemy; Bunny); but I had been 'cute enough to make immense friends with him during the evening; and he wagged his tail; not only when I came downstairs; but when I reappeared at the back…door。

〃As the soi…disant new manager; I had been able; in the most ordinary course; to pump poor Ewbank about anything and everything connected with the working of the bank; especially in those twenty last invaluable minutes before turning in。  And I had made a very natural point of asking him where he kept; and would recommend me to keep; the keys at night。  Of course I thought he would take them with him to his room; but no such thing; he had a dodge worth two of that。  What it was doesn't much matter; but no outsider would have found those keys in a month of Sundays。

〃I; of course; had them in a few seconds; and in a few more I was in the strong…room itself。  I forgot to say that the moon had risen and was letting quite a lot of light into the bank。  I had; however; brought a bit of candle with me from my room; and in the strong…room; which was down some narrow stairs behind the counter in the banking…chamber; I had no hesitation in lighting it。  There was no window down there; and; though I could no longer hear old Ewbank snoring; I had not the slightest reason to anticipate disturbance from that quarter。  I did think of locking myself in while I was at work; but; thank goodness; the iron door had no keyhole on the inside。

〃Well; there were heaps of gold in the safe; but I only took what I needed and could comfortably carry; not much more than a couple of hundred altogether。  Not a note would I touch; and my native caution came out also in the way I divided the sovereigns between all my pockets; and packed them up so that I shouldn't be like the old woman of Banbury Cross。  Well; you think me too cautious still; but I was insanely cautious then。  And so it was that; just as I was ready to go; whereas I might have been gone ten minutes; there came a violent knocking at the outer door。

〃Bunny; it was the outer door of the banking…chamber!  My candle must have been seen!  And there I stood; with the grease running hot over my fingers; in that brick grave of a strong…room!

〃There was only one thing to be done。  I must trust to the sound sleeping of Ewbank upstairs; open the door myself; knock the visitor down; or shoot him with the revolver I had been new chum enough to buy before leaving Melbourne; and make a dash for that clump of trees and the doctor's mare。  My mind was made up in an instant; and I was at the top of the strong…room stairs; the knocking still continuing; when a second sound drove me back。  It was the sound of bare feet coming along a corridor。

〃My narrow stair was stone; I tumbled down it with little noise; and had only to push open the iron door; for I had left the keys in the safe。  As I did so I heard a handle turn overhead; and thanked my gods that I had shut every single door behind me。  You see; old chap; one's caution doesn't always let one in!

〃'Who's that knocking?' said Ewbank up above。

〃I could not make out the answer; b

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