"Lock the doors! The bank has been robbed! The notes have gone! Mr.
Rubenstein, don't let any one go out! I tell you there was two thousand
pounds upon the table. Some one has the notes!"
There was a little murmur of voices and a shriek from one of the women as
she clutched her handbag. Mr. Parker, bland and benign, rose to his feet.
"My own stake has disappeared," he declared; "and the pile of notes I
distinctly saw in front of the banker has gone. I fear, Mr. Rubenstein,
there is a thief among us."
Mr. Rubenstein, white as a sheet, was standing at the door. He locked it
and put the key in his pocket.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "play is over for to-night. We are,
without a doubt, the victims of an attempted robbery. The lights were
turned out from the controlling switch by the lift man, who has
disappeared. I will ask you to leave the room one by one; and, for all our
sakes, I beg that any unknown to us will submit themselves to be
searched."
There was a little angry murmur. Mr. Rubenstein looked pleadingly round.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he begged, "you will not object, I am sure. I am a
poor man. Two thousand pounds of my money has gone from that table--all
the money I kept in reserve to make a bank for you.
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