Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-29
CHAPTER XxII-Continued.

- UPPOSE that one were forced to
stop now and present ones finan-
cial statement, Twenty-Five thou
~ sand pounds sunk in the purchase,
seven thousand sunk in roads.
over ten thousand absorbed by cottages.
eight thousand five hundred locked up in
the houses, sixteen thousand still owing
TO the bank All that he had real
lied by sale of the balance OF his old
Investments by>~sale of freehold and
leasehold plots and of one decoy
house, by mortgage and by rents. etc,
had gone to reduce the bank debt and
nav interest, or on the land. or into
the pockets of MIR. Bowling and Mr..
Eaton. The charges of those two experts
were very moderate and yet they made
handsome total. Suppose that, stopping
now, one sold all the new buildings and
the covered ground for what they would
fetch, there would be loss to face; sold
In a hurry they would never bring cost
price And yet it might be wise to swal-
low such a loss. Then ones assets would
consist of the twenty untenanted derelict
houses of Hill Rise and the bulk of the
land and the roads-with a charge upon
them of s16,OOO. Noble assets still-if one
were given indefinite time to dealt with
them.
/ One morning as he sat talking in the
parlor of the United Bank the manager
SAID something that made the blood rise
to his forehead, made him spring up in
dignantly and strike the manager table
with his clinched fist.
Z My dear Mr.. Crunden, sit down. l
am telling you what my directors say
j am only a servant, not the master, you
know"
! They had been discussing those noble
assets and Crunden had been pleading
for more lenient and considerable treat
lment than of late he had enjoyed. me
bank people were always reviewing their
situation and had issued many ulti-
lmatums; they declined to consent to any
more sales of plots because they could not
suffer any further encroachment on their
security; they made endless dif1cultles
about mortgages, even when the money
obtained went direct into their own COT,
fers; and now they declared that 915.OOO
was the outside limit of loan that could
be countenanced. Then Crunden had
urged the profit which they had already
reaped and the largeness of their security.
4 MY directors regard Hill Rise itself as
a dead letter.
| Very good. But the land-my own
housesr'
! Frankly. Mr. Crunden, we now value
the entire security-if you threw the
whole tnlns on our Hdiius-at eiSHeoeii
thousand five hundred-not penny
more"
/ And then Crunden sprang up from his
chair and banged the table in his in
dignation.
with face still flushed and hands that
shook in his jacket pockets, he felt sick
and faint as the thought came to him
that his anger had been childish and I'M
warranted. The bank directors were
right-if he were compelled to stop now.
He could not stop; he must go on This
was what he had done with all his work
sleepless nights, feverish dreams, long
days of toll, care. hope, strife and spite.
This was the stage he had attained in
his grandiose scheme; he had rendered the
Hill Rise houses useless, proved that
there was no more demand for building
land-knocked half the value off his pur-
chase If sold tomorrow the Hill Rise
estate would fetch half what he gave
for il.