Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-10-26

The next day he went to the bank,
George and myself being posted outside.
In ten minutes he reappeared with q
square bundle under his arm. He smiled
as he passed us, and, turning a corner,
entered a cafe, where we Joined him.
His bundle contained elO, 900 in Bra
lillian bank notes. BE assured Ms that
everything was serene at the bank that
he could have elOO, 600 il he wanted to
ask for it.
The next day Mac went to the bank
ers again and was requested by the
manager to show the letter Of credit on
which was Endorsed the e1O, 900 he had
drawn against it. Looking at the letter,
the manager said: "This is singular.
There is only the name Of Mr.. Brad
shaw, tho manager, OH this letter. J.
p. Ship, the submanager's name,
should be ON the credit as we'll" And
then he went ON to say that some time
since they had been notified by the Lon
don bank that all letters issued by them
| would bear two signatures.
Mac was q rlNn of nerve, but it re-
quired all he had not to betray his un-
easiness. He said he really could not say
how the omission had occurred; he sup
posed ii must have been accidental, but
he would examine his other letters as
soon as he went back to the hotel
The look of chagrin and vexation on
Macs face when he came out was a
sight to see and one that is as vivid in
my memory now as in that faroR day
i'll 1879. What sea of misery rolls be-
tween then and now!
He went direct to the hotel, and
there George and I soon joined him. We
sat down and looked at each other. The
game apparently was up, and we were
q sorely disguised party, We did not
fall ont with or reproach each other,
but felt we deserved a kicking. We did
not ask each other any questions, but I
know our faces all wore sadly puzzled
look as we repeated mentally, "How
could we have made such an oversight"
But soon another blunder-the mis-
| spelled wOrd-was to crop up that
made this one of the omitted name seem
as q fly to an eagle.
Mac and thought the game up and
were mentally planning for flight. But
George, being a man of extraordinary
courage and resource as we'll, declared
We could and would retrieve the blum
der. He declared bold step must be
taken; that as the bankers had only seen
the one credit the name Of Ship, the
submanager, must be instantly put on
the others. We had the genuine sigma
ture Of J. P. Ship ON a draft, and Mac
at once sat down to write it ON all the
letters. twas trying ordeal for him,
Macs nerves having had wrench. He
was a temperate man, but under the
circumstances We advised him to take o
glass Of brandy to steady his nerves.
Then placing the genuine signature be-
foro him and the forged letters he began
to put in the name. The signatures
| were not we'll written, but under the
trying circumstances it was wonderful
ly well done. All this had taken place
| within half an hour after he had left
| the bank.
1t was q trying ordeal, but Mac was
quite willing to do as George advised,
which was that he should take several Of
the letters and march boldly into the
bank and say: Here are my letters;
they are all right. Both signatures are
on NIL my letters but the one, and from
that the second signature has been un-
Intentionally omitted" Georges last
word to Mac was: rely on us to extri-
cate you from anything. Keep cool.
Act mp to the character You have as
sumed. They can never fathom that tho
names could have been written in so
short time. Boldly offer them more
exchange ON London, and if there is any
hesitation say you will transfer your
business to the English bank of Rio Mt
once"
He started on dis decisive GRAND. fol-
lowed by us in miserable state of anx-
iety. He was not long in the bank, but
returned empty handed. Upon meeting
ut the designated place he informed us
the manager was evidently agreeably
surprised when shown the letters with
both signatures and transferred the in
dorsement from the letter that had but
one signature to one with two.
Once more we had matters all night
and the broken place patched up again,
but il behoovcd us not to do SO any
more. But we did.
The steamer we purposed to load orr
money on and ourselves, too, was the
Chimborazo. advertised to arrive on
Tuesday and to leave for the river
Plate and the west coast the next day.
So it was agreed that on Monday Mac
should go to the bank and arrange to
cash his letters { G2O.OOO or $50. 900
and go the next day for the money.
Monday came. We expected q nerv-
Gus day, not such a paralyzingly nerv-
ous one rs it proved to be. In fact, q
nervous Tuesday followed a nervous
Monday. Ely reader must remember
that we were in the tropics, with blaz-
ing sun looking down On MS with an in
tensity that made one long for Green
lands icy mountains to cool Us.
| We went into the public park for our
last consultation before our fortune.
which mover came. was to como.
Mac had in the little morocco case in
his pocket two letters. each for $40. 600.
Certainly no man in the world but him.