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Speaker 1: The failure by Harold Ward Amos Duncan paused for a

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second beside the time clock in the hallway just outside

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the offices of Carney and Kirk. Then, his heart beating

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like a trip hammer, he mustered up courage enough to

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push open the swinging doors and peep into the gloomy interior.

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He was frightened, scared to the point of hysteria. Yet

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for thirty years he had stopped in that self same

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place in the hallway morning and noon on his way

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to work. For thirty years, fifty two weeks in the year,

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six days a week, and twice each day, had he

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sought his number on the time clock and pushed the

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button which registered his comings and his departures. Instinctively four

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figures were one of his hobbies. He made the calculation

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in his head. Eighteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty times

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had he pushed his way through those doors. And never before,

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except possibly the first time, when he had applied for

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a place with the firm, had he been as frightened

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as he was now. For this was the first time

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he had ever come to rob getting a grip on himself,

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he entered the Big Office on tip toe an office

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covering nearly one fourth of a city block. Yet he

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knew that Old Bill Judkins, the watchman, would be making

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his rounds out in the factory at that particular hour.

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It was part of his daily work to check up

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the dial on the night watchman's clock. He knew that

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the old man traveled as true to schedule as a

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mail train. He halted just inside the doors and listened,

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his eyes taking in every one of the familiar details.

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From where he stood, he could discern the dark shapes

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of rows and rows of desks, each identical in size

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and finish with its mates. Around two sides of the

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big room were innumerable cubby holes of offices, divided from

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each other by ground glass partitions, extending two thirds of

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the way to the ceiling. During working hours, they housed

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the elite of the office world, the men and women

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who had pushed their heads above those of their fellows.

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His own desk was second from the front, and the

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second row from the right, just inside the cashier's cage,

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a huge affair of wire, netting and glass. It gave

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him renewed courage for the task ahead as he gazed

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upon its outline staring at him out of the darkness.

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For twenty seven years, since the day of his promotion

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from the office boy ranks, he had occupied that desk

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or one like it in Cagney and Kirk's office, giving

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to Cagney and Kirk the best of his manhood for

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starvation wages and two weeks vacation yearly on pay. Others

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had gone over his head, scores of them man no

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better fitted than he, young cubs would pull or college education.

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He had long since given up hopes of promotion. He

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had reached the point where he was a mere cog

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in the machine, a fizzle and a failure. In ninety

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nine cases out of every hundred, when a man goes wrong,

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a woman is responsible. In Amos Duncan's case, the woman

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was missus Amos Duncan, a downtrodden cog in an office machine,

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the man with little force of character. In the beginning,

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hen pecked at home and abroad, Duncan held to the

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firm opinion that his wife had conferred a favor upon

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him by maryan him. The fact that he had rescued

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her from a life of drudgery in the shipping room

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of the factory changed his opinion not one iota, nor

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did missus Duncan fail to keep his memory refreshed whenever

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opportunity offered itself. Amos Duncan longed to appear as a

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hero in the eyes of his wife. It had taken

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him two years to screw up his courage to the

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point of robbing Carney and Kirk, Yet he had planned

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the affair so often that he knew he would be

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absolutely above suspicion, and with the money once in his hands,

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he would hide it until all memory of the affair

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had blown over, and then, with a carefully concocted story

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of a lucky speculation on change, resign and migrate to

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some distant city to spend his declining years in ease

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with the lady who had assumed his name. Carney and

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Kirk always paid off in cash. Duncan knew that there

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was close to fifty thousand dollars in the vault, ready

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to go into pay envelopes in the morning. As assistant

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cashier and one of the old timers with the firm

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he had been entrusted with the combination. He had read

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that skilled burglars were able to open vaults by listening

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to the whirl of the mechanism. A rag saturated with

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alcohol would do away with telltale fingerprints. The police would

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think the robbery the work of a professional. Still walking

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on his toes, he worked his way through the maze

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of desks to the big vault in the rear of

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the office behind the cashier's cage. Taking a tiny flashlight

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from his pocket, he pressed the button and allowed the

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stream of light to play over the dial while he

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manipulated the affair with fingers that trembled as from the

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augu it refused to work in his nervousness. He had

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gone past the number. He took a deep breath, and,

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with the sweat standing out out in great beads upon

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his face, attacked the job again. Someone was entering the

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office through one of the rear doors leading from the factory.

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He stopped for a second, then, as he heard the

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footsteps coming toward him in the darkness, he leapt outside

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the cage and drew his revolver. He had never fired

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a gun in his life. He had bought this one,

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a cheap second hand affair, merely as a matter of precaution,

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and because he knew that burglars always carried such weapons

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from out of the darkness came a flash, a report.

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A bullet sped past his head and flattened itself against

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the vault door. It must be Judkins, the faithful had

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heard something suspicious and had entered the realization of his

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mission in the office at that time of night stopped

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him involuntarily. He gave a little squeak of fear. A

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second bullet passed unpleasantly near instinctively, just as a cornered

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rat will fight, so his finger pressed the trigger of

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his own gun. He fired aimlessly in the general direction

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of the other, dodging from desk to desk, knocking over chairs.

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He was in a panic of fear. The other's fire ceased. Suddenly,

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from out of the darkness across the great room came

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a dull, throaty cry. Something metallic jangled against the tiled floor.

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An instant later, it was followed by a heavier body,

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a body that crashed against a desk as it dropped.

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Duncan leaped through the folding doors and out into the

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hallway again. To unlock the outer door and dash out

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into the sidewalk was but the work of an instant.

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Around the corner, he heard the shrill whistle of the

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policeman on the beat. As attracted by the shots, he

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came lumbering along, signaling for his mate. He dodged into

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the shadow and turned into the alley. Behind him, he

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could hear the policeman hammering on the office door with

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his nightstick. From two blocks down the street came the

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sound of another whistle in the distance. A third shrilled,

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proving that reinforcements were on the way. Missus Duncan was

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sleeping soundly when he arrived home after a round trip

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through the alleys and side streets. Letting himself into the

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house with his pass key, he hastily sought the security

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of his own room. So far as he knew, no

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one had seen him either going into the factory nor

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leaving it. But God, what a fizzle he had made

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of the affair. And there was blood on his hands,

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the blood of poor old Judkins. What had he gained? Nothing?

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Absolutely nothing. He paced the floor, every nerve tangling, he wondered,

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poor old Judkins. And he had a crippled wife too.

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With Judkins gone, she would have to go to the poorhouse.

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It was something that he had not foreseen. He was

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still pacing the floor when the sun came up in

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the east. In the other room, he heard Missus Duncan

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getting up. In less than two hours, he would have

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to go to the office. Of course, no one would

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suspect him, but he could hear Missus Duncan rattling the

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pots and pans in the kitchen. When the door bell rang.

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He opened the bedroom door crack and peeped through. As

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she answered the summons, A gruff voice was asking for him.

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He heard her admit the visitors. There seemed to be

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two of them. When she called Shrilly up the stairway

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for him. He knew that they were detectives from their

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heavy tread. They were after him for killing Judkins. His

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brain was in a horse. Yet he wondered how it

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happened that they associated him with the crime. He had

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been so careful too. Probably he had dropped something in

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his mad rush to the outer door. He could never

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face the music and Missus Duncan. What would she say?

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He couldn't tell her that he had gone to the

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office to rob the vault for her sake and had

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made a failure. The gun lay in the bureau drawer

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where he had tossed it. He picked it up and

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broke it open. The chambers were all empty. He had

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used every cartridge in killing poor Judkins. From downstairs came

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a buzz of conversation. Missus Duncan shrieked. He heard his

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own name mentioned. God, they had told her what he

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had done. He must move rapidly. His glance fell upon

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a bottle of carbolic acid. Missus Duncan and was at

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the bottom of the stairway now shrieking his name. He

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placed the bottle to his mouth and emptied it at

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a gulp, With the fiery liquid eating into his vitals

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his throat of fire, he reeled across the room and

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tumbled in a heap upon the bed outside. Missus Duncan

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was pounding at his door. Amos, wake up. She was

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shouting between sobs, for Missus Duncan was a hysterical woman,

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and awful things happened. There are two detectives here. Old

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man Judkins went home sick from the factory last night,

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and while he was gone, somebody broke into the office.

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The robbers had a fight, cause one of them was

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found dead when the police broke in after hearing the shots.

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Right the cashier is out of town. And they want

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you to come down and open the vault and see

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if anything is gone. Oh, isn't it awful? Amos? Why

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don't you answer the end of the failure