“Mr. Pearson,” inquired the detective, after the young man had concluded, “do you remember having seen either of those men before?”

The assistant cashier darted a quick glance at the detective, and then answered: 

“Yes, sir; about three o’clock yesterday afternoon, a well-dressed gentleman came into the bank, carrying a small valise in his hand, which he requested permission to leave here until the next morning.  I asked him if it was of any value, and he replied no.  Informing him that I would then place it in the office, the man thanked me, and went away.  When the two men entered the bank at six o’clock in the evening, I instantly recognized one of them as the man who had called in the afternoon.  He was, however, dressed very roughly on the occasion of this last visit, and had evidently changed his clothes for the purpose of escaping detection or recognition.”

“Which one of the men attacked you?” now asked the detective.

“The one who left the valise in the afternoon.  While the tallest of the two was struggling with Miss Patton, who was screaming loudly, the other one came behind the counter and struck me upon the head with the butt end of his revolver.  I became insensible after this, and knew nothing until I found myself in the vault.”

“How did you extricate yourself from this dilemma?” inquired Manning.

“Well, sir,” began Pearson; and the detective imagined that he noticed a hesitancy in his manner, which was not apparent before, “when I recovered consciousness, I found myself locked up in the vault, with Miss Patton lying beside me.  When she recovered, we both shouted loudly for help, and beat with our hands upon the iron doors, in the hope of attracting attention.  This failed, and we were nearly desperate.  Just then, however, my foot came in contact with some loose silver upon the floor, and on stooping to pick them up, I found that they were ten-cent pieces.  Instantly, the idea occurred to me, to attempt to remove the screws which fastened the lock to the inside of the door, and of using one of these coins for the purpose.  To my intense joy the screws yielded to my efforts, and in a short time the heavy door swung open, and we were free.  I have told you already what followed.”

As John Manning jotted these recitals down in his note-book, he could not repress nor account for, a feeling of doubtfulness which crept over him at this point.  He looked up into the young man’s face, but there he saw only the evidence of serious truthfulness, and honest frankness; but still that lingering doubt was upon him and he could not shake it off.

At his request, young Pearson then furnished him with a description of the two men, as nearly as his memory would serve him, and these the detective noted down for future use.

At length, finding that he had obtained all the information which could be afforded him here, he thanked the gentlemen for their assistance, and promised to call again in the course of the day.