Late Awakening

FICTION

by Laura (35-S-2) FPE

On a side street near the financial center of an Eastern city stands a sin- gularly different building, whose tall limestone columns and gilded spandrels reflect the soundness and conservatism of the concern it houses The Merchant's Bank and Trust Company.

Within, the same theme of solid respectability prevails. The three story vaulted ceiling is lost in dimness. A- long one side of the lobby lie a success-

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icals with accountants bent over their ledgers in full view of the public. Some- how, one gains the impression that everything is open and above-board- which is precisely the intent of Mer- chant's. Across the rear of the lobby

a row of cashier's cages, their ma- hogany fronts broken only by the grilled windows. Across the sea of cubicles, one may perceive a huge, massively- thick, well-chromed vault door standing open, glistening with impregnability. To this extent, Merchant's is just an- other bank. The trust department of the institution is on a balcony over- looking the main floor. The balcony is fringed with small offices, each

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