Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-10-24

the letters ana m0rcn DOIdly INTO the
bank and say: Here are my letters !;
they are all right. Both signatures are
on all my letters hut the one, and from
that tho second signature has been un-
Intentionally omitted " Georges last
word to Mac was: Rely on us to extri-
tate yOu from anything. Keep cool
Act up to the character you have as
sumed. They can never fathom that the
names could have been written IN so
short a time. Boldly offer them more
exchange on London, and if there Is any
hesitation say you viii transfer your
business to the English bank Of Rio at
once.
He started on his decisive errand, fol
lowed by us il a miserable state Of auX-
iety. He was not long IN the bank, but
returned empty handed. Upon meeting
at the designated place he informed rs
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 ...... ,.s all right
and the broken place patched NJ again,
but it behooved rs not TO do so any
more. But we did.
/ The steamer we purposcd TO load our
money on and ourselves, too, was the
ChimboraZo. advertised to arrive Oh
Tuesday and to leave for the river
Plate and the west coast the next day
So it was agreed that on Monday Mac
should 20 to the bank and arrange to
cash his letters for $50, 900 or $50, 600
and 90 the next day for the money.
Monday came. We expected Il nerv-
Gus day, not such 4 paralyzingly nerv-
. ous one as it proved to be. In fact,
nervous Tuesday followed a nervous
Monday. My reader must remember
that we weIo in the tropics, with blaz-
ing sun looking down on rs with an in
tensity Il q 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 never came, was to come.
Mac had in the little morocco case in
his pocket two letters, each for eco, 900.
Certainly no man in the world but him
self could have carried off such game
| played for such high stakes. Handsome
in person, faultless in address, cool i'll
nerve, a master of all the languages
spoken in Rio-Portuguese, Spanish,
Italian and French. Above all, he had
a boundless confidence in himself. What
an honorable future might have been his
but for his youthful folies Truly he
could have achieved a wonderful sue
cess in any honorable career. Unhapplly
for him, he, like thousands of our brain
lest youth, had entered the Primrose
Way. In our youthful fire and thought
| lessness we saw only the flowers and
heard the SIRENS songs, but at last the
Primrose Way led us down into a gloom
where all the flowers withered and the
gay songs turned into dirges.
Looking at his watch, Mac jumped
up, saying, "It is 10: :45 and time to
be OFF. " SO he started for the bank, we
following at some distance, our nerves
all on the stretch. We felt that orr lives
and fortunes were trembling in the bal
ance. While watching we saw several
persons enter or leave the bank, and
still our friend delayed his appearance.
To our suspicious minds there ap-
peared to be strange movements about
the bank that bcded i'll for Us. y thou
sand suspicious born of our fears came
and went through our minds until at
last. unable to endure the suspense, |
entered the bank myself and stood
there pretending | was waiting for
some one / sharply scrutinized every
Mo
where out of sight in the private offices.
The clerks were gossiping together, and
that to me was suspicious. Then, to my
alarm. a bank clerk entered from the
street with an eagle eyed man, He
brew evidently, of about 10 years Of age.
Both passed hurriedly into the private
office, leaving me III an agony OF sus-
pense. My only relief at that moment
was the thought that George and my
self had not as yet compromised our
| selves, and could, in the event of Macs
| arrest, manage TO save him, either by
bribery or a rescue.
Without appearing to do so watched
that dingy, mottIed door leading into
the private Office until every crack and
seam in it was photographed indelibly
on my brain.
In the trying periods Of ones life,
when the heart and soul are on the
rack, how strangely trifling details of
the objects about one viii be noticed
and remembered. Tt seems some cell Of
the brain, quite separate from the cell
of feeling and sensation, works calmly
and steadily on, photographing the ma
terial of ones surroundings.
At last, unable to endure the sus-
pense, above all the uncertainty, 1
went to the little door, and, opening 1t,
looked in. To my intense relief l saw
Mac sitting there apparently talking un-
| concernedly with Braga, the manager,
and the Hebrew. As | had not attracted
attention | closed the door, went out III
the street and gave George the prear
ranged signal that all was we'll. Just
then our partner emerged, but with
telltale face 1t was flushed with cha
grin and vexation, and there was gone
from the contour of his body that indie
scribable part that tells, better than
words, Of confidence and victory.
We went by different routes to our
rendezvous, and / will leave it to the
imagination of my readers to picture
our state of mind as we listened to his
| recital of wOe-the tale of Priam's Troy
over again.
Mac had been cordially received by
| the manager, and had told him he
would require e2O, 600 the next day
would he please have 1t ready? The
| y,auaCrar reD1ind that he did not reuuire
any more exchange on London, but
that he would send out for his broker,
who would sell his bills on the eX-
change. He (the manager) would in
dorse the bills Of exchange and indorse
the amounts on his letters Of credit. OF
course Mac could only acquiesce, and
Nh Braga sent 4 clerk to his broker,
! Mr. Meyers, to come around. This was
the sharp eyed Hebrew whom | saw en-
| ter.
The manager introduced Meyers to
''Gir. Gregory Morrison" and explained
that he was to sell exchange for G20, 900
on Norrisou's credit, which the bank
would indorse. Meyers said, please
| show me your letters. Putting his
| hand into his breast pocket and pulling
| out tho little morocco case containing
| the two letters, he handed the case and
contents to Meyers, who, probably with
out suspicion Of anything beirg wrong,
| unrolled both letters, and holding them
in his hands ran his sharp eyes down
one of them and read right through the
body Of the letter.
CoD,i,t,y 70 tba 'suOte" which read