The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1896-03-11

60 lucky arrangements it found itself
in a scrape for the sort of ready money
that it wanted. 1t had some ready
money. which the people did not much
like, and it wanted some ready money
made of beaten gold. And so the chief
magistrate Of this happy go lucky
country had issued his proposals for
what was called popular loan."
Nobody knew very we'll how the pop
ular loan was to be taken up, but every
body was quite sure that his next door
neighbor had better subscribe to it, Peo-
pie went SO far as to say how much Mr..
Jones ought to subscribe and how much
the Widow Smith ought to subscribe.
But, up till the moment when Gertrude
sent that unkind message to George by
Florence, nobody knew very we'll how the
thing was going to turn out. 1t might
be that the popular loan would all be
taken up by set of sharpers, or it might
be that it would not be taken at all. Tt
might be that it would be very unpopu-
lar loan. And everybody was very curl
Gus to see.
There was once an occasion when all
the nations of the world agreed that ev-
cry person in the world should scream
as loud as he could at particular in
slant of time. When the instant came,
there was a horrible stiffness over the
mundane creation. For every body, in
stead Of screaming himself, had listened
to hear somebody else scream, and no
one screamed but dumb man in China
and deaf woman in the Sandwich Is
lands.
It was something like this about the
popular loan. But at last the great day
came when, at Washington, they opened
the bids.
Now, the credit Of this nation was
pretty good and pretty bad. In very
bright, gilt edged times it could borrow
money at less than per cent. In those
times when there was trouble about the
sort Of money that it would give and
take, it generally had to pay 81 on $1O4
that is to say, it's per cents were
placed at 104. The different sharpers
and the different old ladies, the men and
women who had been ooaxed up to sub
scribing in different ways, were in gen.
eral sending in their bids at 1O5 and 100
and 107.
But when at Washington the bids
were opened, the weary clerks hearing
"107 10, ""1O4 Ill.," till they went
almost to sleep as they wrote down the
scarcely varying numbers, all of sud
den bolt fell like lightning from Ju-
piter. The reading clerk, almost as
sleepy as the rest, cried out: Zone hun
dred and twenty-five! Mr.. George Lar
kin of New Bedlam offers 1875 for 10
bonds Of the new issue!"
Every sleepy clerk in the room start
cd up in amazement. "Who is Mr..
George Larkin?' And his bid was en-
tered as by far the highest bid in the
calendar.
The next evening every journal in
that great empire, which extended from
ocean to ocean, had biography of Mr..
George Larkin. These biographies were
made up generally from the informa-
tion given in the directory of New Bed
lam. One of them therefore described
Mr.. George Larkin as the leading man
at the Varieties. Another said that Mr..
George Larkin was engaged in profit
able thread and needle business in the
lower wards of New Bedlam. Another
said that Mr.. George Larkin had won
his distinction as a reporter for the
press. But all persons agreed that Mr..
George Larkin was a person of great
i,,oror+opoo IN tho financial o01m 1nun;tv