El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-31
THE LOAN
BY Hans RiedeI.
By Hans RiedeI.

IT was all in order A syndicate Of
banks had been formed. Inc new
loan was safe.
Two days afterwards it was ad-
vertlsed in all papers. Several edltors
pointed out that seldom had a loan
been fIOated offering such chances 20
the public To be sure, the public mad
for some time been rather AFRAID OF
new loans especially foreign, but TINS
loan was different A mere glance at
the financial status Of the country In
question must convince even the most
cautious that the security offered was
excellent. The bonds were guaranteed
tS pay interest at the rate Of percent
The public must hurry the papers said,
if they wanted to get any Of the
bonds.
AT last the great day came.
Thank Cod" said director number
one, and drew a sigh Of relief.
Subscribed three times over" said
director number two and laughed.
The crisis was past, the dark clouds
had scattered.
ago they had been sitting here. the
whole syndicate. with pale, terror
stricken faces, in this very room. A
cipher dispatch had arrived. There were
signs Of a revolution in the country
the Republicans were restless. but
these financiers had already sent the
whole amount down there in cash. and
now the loan was to be noated. sold
in the form of bonds to the public
who were to pay back the money in
to the Golfers Of the financiers. If the
news OF a threatening revolution leaked
out nobody would buy and they would
have to pocket the loss. They must
hurry. They could not wait until the
first Of December. as originally in
tended they must act Immediately.
Three weeks must be enough to make
the prepare lions. That long at least
the government must be able TO keep
happened the news must be kept out Of
the papers. They had their agents
down there and papers and press bu-
reaus could be bought. It was the only
way to stop the news. 1t meant five
million marks to the syndicate three
million to the Bank Of Industry
alone, and the president Of the bank
was to get $4,000 marks as his share
Of the profits of this one transaction
alone.
Thank Cod" he sighed once and
looked at the blue smoke from his
cigar curling through the air.
In the next room was the mailing
department In corner stood a man
addressing and stamping the letters.
entering each letter in heavy ledger
in front of him and making a note of
the postage in a special book il was
not very warm in the room, still his
face was wet with perspiratiOn, and
his moist fingers could barely hold the
pen.
each week the cashier examined the
contents of the stamp box by the order
of the president Of the bank.
One after the other the clerks left
and at last there were only two men
left the cashier and the clerk who
were stamping the letters.
The cashier was writing a personal
letter the clerk must wait until it
suited him.
The clerks fingers no longer trem-
bled. his forehead was no longer wet
with perspira ton. He had wiped it
with his handkerchief.
How had he got into this trouble
1t was sickness that did it. He had a
wife and child and he got into debt.
His salary was 20 marks month, not
enough when doctor and medicine was
added to the regular expenses.
Seventy marksi And still, hundreds
Of others would have been glad TO have
his job. Ten hours work a day, II was
not quite 80 pfennig an hour. And he
had heard that there were two men on
the board Of directors Of the bank who
did not work ten hours year and
were paid thousands Of marks for their
services. He had often thought of
that Now, however. he was thinking
of something else, he was wondering If
the cashier would soon finish his letter
and then
He knew he would be found out And
still there was way Of hiding what
he had done. He could enter the fig
ures into the book. make an entry Of
40 marks more for stamps equally
divided on each of the six days Of the
week. and no one would ever suspect.
But he could not do that That would
be fraud and he only wanted the money
as a loan. His landlord had threat
ened to dispossess him If he did not
pay the rent. so he had borrowed the
money from the stamp box until Sat
urdav He had tried to raise 1t among
his friends but found nobody willing
20 help him.
Then the awful torture Of waiting
for Saturday evening began. 1t had
almost made him insane. Today he
had gone to the bank-like a doomed
man to the scaffold. Now the moment
was there.
Why was he afraid? Had he per-
haps stolen the money. Was he an
honest man. OF a swindler, a thief?
1t was only a loan he had made. He
was willing to pay back every pfennig
with interest He Strengthened him
self up
The cashier had finished the letter at
last
Ready" he asked
He looked over the entries. The
amounts were added up correctly. Then
the cash.
There is something wrong! You are
45 marks Short"
In a voice that trembled little the
clerk told what had happened.