“Can it be possible!” said a tall and aged director, rising from his chair and bending upon the culprit a look of great impressiveness—­“can it be possible that it is our upright and stainless clerk who confesses to such a stupendous villainy as this?  Can it be that one who has earned so much true esteem from his fellow-men thus turns upon them and—­”

“Yes, yes, yes!” replied Fields, impatiently, “that is all true; but it is all sentiment.  Let us descend to business.  I know the extent of my wickedness better than you do.  I have taken for my own use from your bank.  I have robbed you of between a quarter and a half million of dollars.  I am a pure robber.  That is the worst you can say of me.  The worst you can do with me is to throw me into prison for ten years.  By the National Currency Act of 1865, section 55, you will see that for this offence against you I may be incarcerated from five to ten years—­not more than ten.  If you imprison me for ten years, you do your worst.  During those ten years I shall have ample time to perfect myself in at least three languages, and to read extensively, and I shall leave the jail at forty-five a polished and learned man, in the prime of life, and possessed of enormous wealth.  There will be no pleasure that I cannot purchase.  I shall become a good-natured cynic; I shall freely admit that I have disturbed the ordinary relations of labor and compensation, but I shall so treat the matter that I shall become the subject of a semi-admiration that will relieve me from social ostracism.  I have carefully reviewed the ground.  I shall go to jail, pass through my trial, receive my sentence, put on my prisoner’s suit, begin my daily tasks, and all with as much equanimity as I possess at present.  There will be no contrition and no shame.  Do not hope to recover a dollar of your money.  I have been careful to secrete it so that the most ingenious detectives and the largest rewards will not be able to obtain a hint of its whereabouts.  It is entirely beyond your reach.”

Fields was now an entire master of the situation.  The board was filled with consternation; its members conferred together in frightened whispers.

“But,” pursued Fields, “do you properly understand your situation?  My desk is virtually without money.  My assistant at this instant may discover that he has not sufficient funds to pay the check he has in his hand.  In a moment more the street may be in possession of the facts.  Besides the present danger, have you forgotten the controller?” Nothing more could now add to the alarm that filled the room.

“What shall we do, Fields?  We cannot go under; we cannot—­”

“I will tell you.”

The room became silent again.  All leaned forward to listen.  Some placed their hands behind their ears.

“I do not think that the drafts upon us to-day will amount to eighty thousand dollars.  You might draw that sum from the receiving teller, but that would occasion remark.  I advise you to draw from your private accounts elsewhere one hundred thousand dollars, and quietly place it upon my counter.  I would do it without an instant’s delay.”