The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-02-26

Roberts. our cashier, certified your
! checks to-day. He should not have
! done it. But here In Wall Street We
have to take chances. and he foolish
y took too wide a chance with you.
lie tells me that when your last check
for SlS6,0o0 came in YOU promised TO
J have the securities TO cover your over
draf; in the bank within thirty min
utcs. Is that true?"
J Yes. but 1t has been such a fear
ful day.' said Thompson. that we arr
| all In a tangle. AS soon as can get
matters Strengthened out I'll make my
overdraft good!
Why lie TO me?'' asked the pres.
dent Thompson flushed and half rose
i but the stern eye Of the banker check
/ cd him.
| II did not come here 10 be insul,ed."
! he sputtered as he wiped his brow in
| agitation.
Mr. Thompson said tho president,
you've been on the wrong side OF the
| market and you're broke. There is
such a thing as falling honestly and
such a thing as failing dishonesty
You're preparing 10 fail dishonesty.
You plan to rob this bank. You took
| e desperate gambling chance to-day
| in the hope OF saving yourself, but
when you did not succeed you deter
| mined to throw the burden on us. The
checks we certified We're to pay for
stock that was TO be turned over to US
after delivery. You have that stock in
your safe now. want it,
| Thompson's face was red. He closed
| his fist convulsively as the president
spoke II was not the spoken word
however. that made his heart beat 50
! fast and made him fearful. Somehow
the eyes Of the cold -blooded man sit.
| ting looking at him SO keenly. search
| ing his very soul. as 1t seemed. car
| ried more OF a message than the words
themselves. bitter they We're.
You do me a great wrong" Thomp
| son declared ~ assure you you arc
| mistaken. | assure you 1 mean to
turn the stock over TO you as soon a
| l can get my affairs out Of the tangle
| they're in. This has been the heaviest
| day the Street has had this year. Just
] as soon as"
Why lie to me-" the president re-
peated. II told you knew exactly
| what YOU We're doing. You mean 10
! You have an appointment with Clapton
for to night. He Is 10 engineer II for
| YOU
| 'You seem to have been spying on
me. Thompson exclaimed. in a rage.
Then losing control Of himself, he de-
| clarel with an oath that 1t was true
| he was going 10 fail. and he was glad
J OF II. SO long as he could revenge him
| self on the man who had been SO COW
ardly as TO put q spy in his office to
watch him He was sorry only that his
debt TO the hank was not double, treble
quadruple what ii happened TO be-
lie was not looking at the president
as he talked. but when he did look al
him something in the CLINT Of the pres
| ident's eye caused him to stop suddenl.
and sink further back in his chair
"Mr Thompson" said the president.
| in the same cold. calm voice as before.
! II have had various experiences with
men OF your kind, and they never have
/ succ. eded in robbing me yet. and YOU
are not going to succeed now. lie, me
tell YOU about the first Of the lot ]
was only a young man then. It was
| out in Nebraska. was telegraph
operat tor in a small town there-a boom
town: one Of those towns that blossom
| in year and fade i'll month. There
| was jim Grow bank there, and the
cashier gave up his job and the owner
| of the bank offered the place to me. l
! didn't know much about banking and
one Of the first Things did was to lend
| $4,000 to = cattieman. He was plaus-
| ible rascal. and he had my confidence
| just as you had the confidence OF Rob
crts He needed the money to buy a
| bunch OF cattle. which he would drive
| to Omaha and sell. Well. he bought
the cattle. and he drove them to Omaha
and then he came back. The blight
was on that boom town when he re
/ turned. He came into the bank smil-
| ing and gay and chatted with me in
| the most friendly spirit. asked him
about the cattle deal. and he told me
he had bought the herd and had driven
them to Omaha and had sold the lot
but had not received as much for them
as lie expected. He had made profit
but was trne disappointed Then he
talked about other things. and started
to go away. ] called him back. Mr..
Jackson, I said, how about that money
YOU owe u.s.?
"fle laughed. Fc was a big. raw
honed man. was about as am now.
but perhaps bit stronger then than
am to-day. That money! he said.
| Why. need that money. This town
Il