BUSINESS

by: Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

WO villains of the highest rank

Set out one night to rob a bank.

They found the building, looked it o'er,

Each window noted, tried each door,

Scanned carefully the lidded hole

For minstrels to cascade the coal--

In short, examined five-and_twenty

Short cuts from poverty to plenty.

But all were sealed, they saw full soon,

Against the minions of the moon.

"Enough," said one: "I'm satisfied."

The other, smiling fair and wide,

Said: "I'm as highly pleased as you:

No burglar ever can get through.

Fate surely prospers our design--

The booty all is yours and mine."

So, full of hope, the following day

To the exchange they took their way

And bought, with manner free and frank,

Some stock of that devoted bank;

And they became, inside the year,

One President and one Cashier.

Their crime I can no further trace--

The means of safety to embrace,

I overdrew and left the place.

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