The Dolores star., 1909-06-18

Then we must borrow on our per.
sonal notes."
I'VE won't give any notes. either!"
afiirmed the president, disdaining to
give his reason.
What shall we do then, I'D like to
know"
Benson" said the president, what
would you suggest?"
Il can think Of only two answers,
and both of them are a little risky"
said the bookkeeper. meekly.
"Well?" urged the cashier. as Ben.
son hesitated.
Take a few hundred dollars and
try bribing the bank examiner or use
stake in the stock market or in
gambling house. guess there's bet.
ter show at poker than in specializing
on margins"
At this reply the president and cash.
fer looked at each other quizzically
then the latter announced sternly:
"The Lukewater bank is conserva
tive institution. Whatever we do must
be safe and honest
The bOokkeeper relapsed into his
usual silence, and for few moments
the others, also. had nothing to say.
Are you generally lucky at cards?"
asked Griswold of Benson, at length.
Il will not consent: | positiSely will
not consent to any such preposterous
novel" objected the cashier. quickly.
with a great show of emotion.
Now, Clinton rejoined the presi.
dent. don't jump at conclusions!
asked that question for an entirely
different reason than you suppose. II
Benson. here. is accustomed to spend
his leisure hours in gambling, 1t is to
the interest of the bank that we know
few particulars. Perhaps he is a
dangerous person to intrust with the
handling Of money"
For half an hour longer one expedi-
ent after another was considered and
rejected; at the end of that time they
were no nearer the solution of the
problem than at the outset, and even
the optimistic Griswold began to lose
had already done so.
The Indifferent bookkeeper was yawn-
ing. 1t was at this juncture that
Hakko. who had been deep In thought.
suddenly exclaimed, his face beaming
with assurance:
"Oh. now see what we can do"
Then for heavens sake tell i'll"
commanded the despondent cashier.
why not draw a draft?''
A. draft ?',.- snccresi Griswold. "a
fake draft, I suppose you mean? You
forget that we live in the age of tele-
graphs and the fraud could be exposed
In 20 minutes"
Not this draft" assured the Jap
Nonsense! Upon whom could we
draw for $4,000 with any safety?"
THE sultan OF Turkey!"
"The sultan of Turkey?" gasped
both Griswold and Clinton in a
breath. Even the sleepy Benson
opened his eyes In wonderment.
1T is very simple" explained the
complacent janitos, "and l think 1t
would go through all right. The bank
examiner would never suspect any
thing was wrong. He would not sup
pose you would draw upon the sultan
without the right. but If he should ask
questions, you can tell him the draft
was discounted by Japanese mer-
chant Of this city. l will get one of
them to agree to the use of his name.
Don't you know it is very common to
draw on the sultan-he is SO slow to
pay his debts. 1t would be nothing
strange to the examiner"
"The idea looks good to me-" COM
mented Griswold. However, the off,
cials interrogated Hakko minutely and
discussed the scheme in It's various
aspects before they finally came to re-
gard seriously the possibility OF its
adoption.
There is positively no harm in the
idea, even though 1t may be irregular"
said the conscientious cashier; be
sides in two weeks our accounts will
have a different story to tell. No one
will suffer by the innocent ruse. When
the sultan inquiries about the obliga-
tion, all we have to do is to write him
that mistake had been made in draw
ing upon him."
Its cinch the bank examiner will
consider II good collateral, said the
president
Thus the matter was settled and
the next day a satisfactory arrange
ment was concluded with local ia
panese merchant, friend of Hakko's,
and the $4,000 draft, drawn on the
sultan of Turkey. was dispatched to
that mighty sovereign.
An hour after the paper had been
mailed. Griswold, in his private ONCE.
startled business acquaintance by
bursting out laughing In his face, for
no apparent reason. 1t had suddenly
occurred to the president that the
sending Of the draft to the sultan was
a piece of errant foolishness when the
mere record of the transaction was
all that could possibly concern the