No doubt he would be back early, for it was the day of the May fair, when there was always an unusual stir of business.

Mr.Clifford took his place in the vacant bank parlor, and waited somewhat grimly for the arrival of the head clerk, Acton.
There was a not unpleasant excitement among the clerks, as they whispered to each other on arrival that old Clifford was come and Roland Sefton was still absent.

But this excitement deepened into agitation and misgiving as the hour for opening the bank drew near and Acton did not arrive.

Such a circumstance had never occurred before, for Acton had made himself unpopular with those beneath him by expecting devotion equal to his own to the interests of the firm.

When ten o'clock was close at hand a clerk ran round to Acton's lodgings; but before he could return a breathless messenger rushed into the bank as the doors were thrown open, with the tidings that the head clerk had been found by his landlady lying dead in his bed.
More quickly than if the town-crier had been sent round the streets with his bell to announce the news, it was known that Roland Sefton was missing and the managing clerk had committed suicide.