″I wish Central Bank would be robbed,″George Pickens said to
himself. He had been making this wish daily from the time he had started work as
a teller at the bank.
All over the country banks were being robbed, George thought sourly. Why
not this bank ？Were robbers scornful of its four－million－dollar capital？Were
they afraid of Mr. Ackerman, the old bank guard, who hadn＇t pulled out his gun
in twenty－two years？
Of course, George had a reason for wanting the bank to be robbed. After
all, he couldn＇t simply take the thick bundles of bills that were under his
hands all day long. So he had thought of another way to get them. His plan was
simple. It went like this：
If Bank Robber A holds up Bank Teller B…
And if Bank Teller B gives Bank Robber A a certain amount of money…
What is to prevent Bank Teller B from keeping all the money left and
claiming that it was stolen by Bank Robber A？ There was only one problem.
Where was Bank Robber A？
One morning George entered the bank feeling something was about to
happen.″Good morning, Mr. Burrows.″he said cheerfully. The bank president
muttered something and went into his office.
At two o＇clock Bank Robber A walked in. George knew he was a bank
robber. For one thing, he slunk in. For another thing, he wore a mask.
″This is a holdup.″the man said roughly. He took a pistol from his
pocket. The guard made a small sound.″You,″the bank robber said,″lie down
on the floor.″Mr. Ackerman lay down. The robber stepped over to George＇s
cage.
″All right.″he said.″Hand it over.″″Yes, sir.″said
George.″Would you like it in ten－or－twenty－dollar bills？″
″Just hand it over！″
George reached into his cashbox and took all the bills from the top
section, close to six thousand dollars. He passed them through the window. The
robber snatched them, stuffed them into his pocket, and turned to leave.
Then, while everyone watched Bank Robber A, Bank Teller B calmly lifted
off the top section of the cashbox and slipped bills from the bottom section
into his pockets.
The bank robber was gone. George fainted. When he woke he smiled up at the
worried faces looking down at him.″I＇m all right.″he said bravely.
″Perhaps you should go home, George.″Mr. Bell, the chief auditor,
said.
As soon as he was safely behind his bedroom door, George took the money
from his pockets and counted it. He had seven thousand dollars. He was very
happy。
The next morning when George arrived at the bank, it was not open for
business. But everyone was there, helping to examine the bank＇s records for
the special audit Mr. Bell was taking.
George was called into Mr. Burrows＇s office. The bank president seemed
strangely cheerful.″George,″he said,″I want you to meet Mr. Carruthers,
who used to be president of our bank.″
″Good morning, George.″said Mr. Carruthers.″I was sorry to hear you
fainted yesterday. Are you all right now？″
″Yes, sir. Just fine, thanks.″
″I＇m glad to hear it. That was quite an adventure. It just goes to
show how easy it is to rob our bank.″
″Sir？″said George, confused.″
George, I was sorry to give you a hard time yesterday, but with all the
banks being robbed these days I thought it would be a good idea to prove that
our little bank can be robbed too. I have retired, but I haven＇t stopped
thinking. That＇s why I played my little game yesterday, just to keep everybody
on his toes.″
″I don＇t understand.″said George.″What game？″
The old man laughed and whipped out a mask. He placed it over his face and
said,″All right. Hand it over！″Mr. Burrows laughed but George did not.
″And the money？″George asked in a small voice.
″Don＇t worry.″Mr. Carruthers said.″I put it all back in your
cashbox, all six thousand. We＇re just finishing up the audit now.″George
turned cold with fear.
Behind them, the door opened and Mr. Bell, the chief auditor, put his head
into the room.″Mr.Burrows,″he said gravely,″may I see you a moment？″
欢迎到我们银行来
“我真希望中央银行遭劫。”乔治·皮肯斯自言自语道。自从他在这家银行当上出纳以来,天天都这样希望。
全国的银行都被抢了,怎么不抢这家？他越想越不是滋味儿。难道强盗们看不上这里400万美元的资金？还是他们怕这里的老警卫阿克门先生？他已经22年没掏出他的枪了。
当然,乔治有理由盼望这个银行遭劫。毕竟,他不可能把他整天经手的大捆大捆的钞票就这么拿走。于是,他想出了另一个法子把它们弄到手。他的计划很简单,大致如下：
假如强盗甲劫持了银行出纳员乙……假设乙把一定数额的钱交给了甲……
那么又有什么能阻止乙把剩下的钱全部私吞,然后就说所有的钱都被甲抢走了呢？问题只有一个,强盗甲在哪儿？
一天早晨,乔治走进银行时觉得似乎要出事。“早晨好,伯罗斯先生。”他高兴地向经理问候,经理嘀咕了什么就走进了自己的办公室。
两点钟的时候,强盗甲走进了银行。乔治知道他是抢银行的强盗,原因之一是他进来时鬼鬼祟祟,二是他戴着面具。
“这是抢劫！”那家伙粗暴地说。他从口袋里掏出手枪。警卫发出了一点儿声响。“你,”强盗说：“趴在地上！”阿克门先生趴下了。强盗走到乔治的窗口前。
“好,把钱交出来！”
“是,先生,”乔治答应着：“你要10元一张的还是20元一张的？”
“交出来就行了！”
乔治把手伸进装现金的盒子,把顶层的钞票都拿了出来———有6000元左右。他把钱从窗口递出来。强盗抓住钱塞进口袋,转身就跑。
当大伙都盯着强盗甲的时候,出纳乙沉着地把盒子里下层的钞票偷偷塞进了自己的口袋。
强盗跑了。乔治晕倒在地。当他醒来时,朝那一张张焦急地瞧着他的脸微笑。“我没事。”他勇敢地说。
“也许你应该回家去,乔治。”首席审计员贝尔先生说。
乔治刚刚安然走进自己的卧室,就在门后,从口袋里掏出钱来数。他有7000美元了,真高兴。
第二天早晨,乔治来到银行。银行没有营业,但全体职员都来了,正在协助贝尔先生进行特别查账,审核银行记录。
乔治被叫进了伯罗斯先生的办公室。这位银行经理似乎出人意料地高兴。“乔治,”他说：“我想让你见一下我们银行的前任经理卡拉瑟斯先生。”
“早上好,乔治,”卡拉瑟斯先生说：“听说你昨天晕倒了,我很难过。你现在好了吗？”
“是的,先生。全好了,谢谢！”
“我很高兴你没事了。那确实是非同一般的冒险,这件事说明抢咱们银行真容易！”
“您说什么？”乔治有些迷惑不解。
“乔治,很抱歉昨天让你经历了一段难捱的时刻。因为近来所有银行都遭到了抢劫,我觉得想个办法证明咱们的银行也会被抢,倒是个不坏的主意。我已经退休了,可我并没停止思索。这就是为什么昨天我搞了个小游戏,只不过是为了让每个人保持警觉。”
“我不明白,”乔治说：“什么游戏？”
这位老人笑了,嗖地一下拿出一个面具,把它戴在自己脸上,说：“好,把钱交出来！”伯罗斯先生哈哈大笑,乔治可笑不出来。
“那钱？”乔治小声问。
“别担心,”卡拉瑟斯先生说：“我已经把钱全放回你的现金盒子里了,一共6000。我们就要查完账了！”乔治吓得浑身冰凉。
他们身后那扇门开了,首席审计员贝尔先生把头伸了进来。“伯罗斯先生,”他严肃地说：“您能出来一下吗？”
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