The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1869-10-21

uoneer,, and tell him what you have
"Why, no, bought the lot, faults and
errors of description, and all and it is as
much mine as if / had paid a thousand
pounds for it."
"Yes; but some poor man may be
ruined by the loss of these shares"
"Well,' said l, "what | will do will be
to go up 20 London, to the company s
offices, and ascertain whether these certif-
Gates are claimed on behalf of any one
else. and if not, to claim them for my
self"
l found the offices of the Undenable
Security and Unlimited Discount Banking
Corporation (Limltedl" u most imposing
edifice of Italian architecture, and i'm
mense plate-glass windows, and Purbeck-
marble columns, and the name of
the company in medieval gold let
tiers, running the whole length of
the building Evidently very pros
porous concern. On entering there
was not that amount of business doing
which l should have liked to see in fact,
beyond two clcrks-One of whom was
pairing his nails with the Office pcn-knlfe,
while the other, and more elderly, was
rcatling the newspaper-the place was
empty | stood quite five minutes at the
massive Spanish mahogany counter APP
parentlv without either of the clerks be-
coming officially aware of my presence, so
intent were they on their duties. l there
fore raped on the floor with my umbrella,
which made great noise in the empty
office, which was church like for size and
echoes The elder clerk looked up impa-
tiently from his paper, but resumed its
perusal Immediately The younger got
off his stool, and went to a looking glass,
where he commenced arranging his hair
with pocket-comb.
Il have Called" / remarked in some
what loud tone, "abOut some shares in
this company, the certificates of which
hold"
"Eh9" said the old clerk, at last detect
ing my intrusion.
| / repeated my business.
"Certificates Nos 2034 to 20S3, they
are in my possession; in fact, l bought
them"
"Well, what do you want? Do you
wish them registered inyour name? Simp
son." Ito the young clerk, "gct down the
transfer book"
"That is the difficulty" said 1. ain the
event, for instance, of any one else claiming
the shares, for they came into my posses
sion in rather singular manner"
"NO difficulty at all. You say you've
got the certificates, and you've bought
them. 1t dosent matter to us if you've
stolen them Just produce the scrip, and
write me an authority to register the shares
in your name"
He looked over the certificates, and
counted them, while wrote the required
authority.
But" said, when l had done, with a
view to satisfy my conscience in the APP
preparation of property, / assure you the
circumstances under which acquired the
certificates are SO singular, that"
"You needn't trouble about that" he
interrupted "our office takes no cogniZ-
ance of the way you became possessed of
them. You are the holder and the regis
tered proprietor of the shares, and you
may be quite sure no one else will ever
claim them."
This sounded satisfactory in one way
but the mans manner of saying it did not,
/ confess, leave favorable impression on
my mind. went home rather uncomfort
able, and feeling so oppressed with the
notion OF having property which my con-
science would not cOncede was mine in
strict justice, that it would have been a
relief to have had an accomplice with
whom to share the proceeds and the re-
sponsibility.
1t may seem singular that when in
town / had taken no steps to ascertain the !
value of my property; but, in the first
place, know very little of the ways of
the money market, and the share list is as
great puzzle to me rs Bradsltdlo. And
in the next, to tell the truth, felt timid
at asking questions which might lead me
to betray how became the owner of the
shares.
A month after this, had been out for
the day to q picnic with my wife. We
had both enjoyed ourselves hugely, and
come home flushed with the summer heat
and braced up with the fresh air. I had
got over all my qualms about the posses
sion of the property, and begun to look
upon it as promising very acceptable adj
dtiOn to my income. am not sure had
not been regarding the scenery of trees
and sky and ripping water with some
that the acquisition of thousand pounds
removed me so much the farther from
anxiety as to enable me to enjoy it in the
greater peace.
A great oblong official blue letter await
most letters dated from Basinghall Street
do.
Re THE UNDENLABLE SECURITY AND TN
LIMITED DISCOUNT BANKING CORPORA
TION UIMITED).
SIR: / beg to inform you an order has
this day been made by the registrar, call
ing upon you as a contributOry in respect
of your fifty (50) shares held in the above
company (now under winding up order),
numbered respectively from 2,034 to 2,0S3
inclusive. The amount of the call is five
pounds ten shillings (e5 10s) per share,
making total OF two hundred and seven
ty-five pounds (f275); which sum must be
paid at my office between eleven and four
on Thursday next the Goth inst.
(Signed),
Official assignee IN tie Bankruptcy
o fool / began to vaguely see now
why the clerk told me l might be quite
sure no one else would claim the shares
They were not only of no value, but their
possession was subject to heavy liability
And /, to be idiot enough to go and claim
them when the company was actually
bankrupt and worsei
Night as 1T was, determined to go at
once and see my wife's brother-in- law,
Mr.. BlOde. He was barrister-had been
one for ten years-but had never had q
brief
", shouldn't take any notice oil that,
he said, II don't think they can fix you
with liability. I'll write to the assignee
and manage it for you. Let me know if
you hear any word of it. You are an in
nocent party; you didn't buy the shares but
the iron safe. But how on earth did they
know you held the certificates 2"
told him l had given an authority to
heve them registered in my name.
sHe drew In his breath, and produced a
long whistle like sigh. 'Then you've
| indOrsed their, possession. You should
have consulted me. However, I wouldn't
trouble about it. Leave it to me-"
1t would take too long to describe the
harassing anxieties which each week
brought me, while my case as contribu-
tory was dragging along first through one
court and then another; but the different
| LIGHTS which yariona INN ina rins of tla ln Nv