The faces of the people were ghastly. A babel of voices arose. "Where are the police?" "Where are they?" "Who said the police?" The little dark gentleman whose name was Rubenstein stood upon a chair. "Ladies and gentlemen," he called out, "nothing whatever has happened-- nothing! The electric lights went out owing to an accident, which I will investigate. It seems to have been a practical joke on the part of the lift man, who has disappeared. There are no police here. Please take your places. The game will proceed." They came back a little reluctantly, as though still afraid. Then suddenly the banker's hoarse voice rang out through the room. All the time he had been sitting like an automaton. Now he was on his feet, swaying backward and forward, his eyes almost starting from his head. "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. If any one will return it now nothing shall be said. But to lose it all--I tell you it would ruin me!" The perspiration stood out on his forehead. He looked anxiously round, as though seeking for sympathy. Mr. Parker came over to his side. "Say, Mr. Rubenstein," he declared, "there isn't any one here who wants you to lose a five-pound note--that's a sure thing! But there is just one difficulty about this searching business: How can you identify your notes? If I, for instance, were to insist that I had brought with me two thousand pounds in banknotes in my pocket--which, let me hasten to assure you, I didn't--how could you deny it?" "My notes," Mr. Rubenstein replied feverishly, "all bear the stamp of Lloyd's Bank and to-day's date. They can all be recognized."