The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1907-12-28
The Roupell Mystery

| such capitalists as would inspire the pub
lie with confidence.
| Let me see," said the banker, running
his eyes rapidly over a list which he
held in his hand "We have Liquelet,
Bousent, of Bousent; the elder Paltois-
he is good and Max Raumont says he is
with us in case we get to an issue. The
remainder of the board must be given to
the dock people. They will, of course,
| expect some representation"
ITO be sure" acquiesced Chabot, shut
we must contrive to have with us only
those who are open to arguments"
Eyes, that is it, my friend; open to
arguments" echoed the vicomte.
"Of your usually persuasive kind" add
ed Chabot. Every man has his price, to
be sure, nowadays"
"And always did have. In these times,
commercial enterprises, my dear fellow,
assume proportions of which our ances-
tors never dreamed. They were just as
dishonest then, if you call manipulation
dishonesty, which l candidly confess 1
don't-but their ideas were smaller.
Hence the difference. Besides" he added,
laying his hand impressively upon the
others sleeve, this thing must go
through. l think you, above all others,
are aware of the necessity. The fact is,
my dear Chabot, there have been many
heavy pulls on the Mutual Credit bank
lately. One cannot offer eight per cent on
special deposits and always be sure of
making more by using the depositors'
money. Then there was the dividend on
the Ardennes Charcoal and Peat Com
pany. You know it was never earned !;
but we decided that it would be best to
pay one"
well, the consequence was you placed
the bonds at par, didn't you?"
''At par to the public, of course, but
Herr Goldstein's commission took the gilt
off the gingerbread. However, he took
them all at eighty-fve. I could not have
placed them to such good advantage"
"The interest comes due on the six
tenth l suppose it is useless to cross
that bridge until we come to it."
Before the sixteenth this dock COM
pany will be foated. The banks profit
on that will more than meet the interest
of the Charcoal and Peat Company
bonds"
"And if it isn't hoated?" hazarded
Chabot.
IF it isn't foated the inevitable crash
will begin, or it can be averted in an
other way, my dear Chabot, about which
l cannot talk at present. But we will not
anticipate evil. Come, you must accom-
pany me to the Bourse this morning. I
have heavy deal pending, and shall need
your assistance"
AS the Vicomte de Valiar and Jules
Chabot left the Office of the Mutual
Credit and Trust Company a small-sized
man issued from a cafe on the opposite
side of the street and walked in an ap-
parently careless and preoccupied manner
in the same direction. He followed them
until they turned into brokers' Office.
Presently they came forth again, and in
company with third person continued to
walk in the direction of the Bourse.
This third person was Herr Max Gold
stein, one of the shrewdest dealers in Sc
curities in the whole of Paris. He was
the broker to whom the vicomte had en-
trusted the sale of the first mortgage
bonds of the Ardennes Charcoal and Peat
Company. He was heavy, thickset fell
low, with little, cunning eyes, which had
been set together as closely as nature
would allow had not an enormous nose
grown between them, he would perhaps
have had only one large eye in the center.
He had a habit Of cooking up his head
when in conversation, and of listening
with his mouth wide open. He had COM
menced life in Berlin as bootblack with
secondhand outfit. At the conclusion
of the first days work he had accumu-
lated enough to buy the best outfit in the
city. In week he had concluded that
open air work was not to his liking, and
took his business off the street into q
basement, where he thrived apace
Then the brilliant idea struck him of
buying and selling theater tickets at cut
rates. From this he gravitated into lot
teries; from lotteries into small curb
stone speculations. Hardly able to write
his own name, the trading instinct was so
strongly developed in him that in ten
years he had accumulated a very consid-
cradle fortune.
Why Herr Goldstein had not continued
his uninterrupted career of prosperity in
Berlin was a mystery to his friends in
Paris. As he seemed to have plenty of
money, however, none of them had ever
dreamed of inquiring why he preferred
the French to the German capital. as
base for his financial operations After
all, was it any of their business?
Herr Goldstein was about forty-fye
years of age, but looked considerably
older. Constant fighting with all sorts
and conditions of men had left deep fur
rows across his forehead. Ladies said
that without doubt he was a very unpre-
possessing man. He seemed to have some
extraordinary influence with the vicomte,
and people were lost in conjecture as to
what that could be.
The small followed de Valiar, NJ. Cha
bot and Herr Goldstein to the very en-
trance of the Bourse. Unable to obtain
admission to the floor, he had recourse to
the gallery. 1t was nearly empty. An
old lady and a young couple from the
country, evidently on their honeymoon
trip, were its sole occupants He sat in
the gallery for upward of an hour, his
QaZa consfant1v On tho Aoor nf +ho ~