Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-11-16

-
his bankrupt company. You Book a
chance for your W hand and But the
bank in the hole. Now I'd like to ask
what you are going to do about t."
Smith looked up quickly. Somewhere
inside Of him the carefully ferected
walls Of use and custom were tumbling
In strange ruins and out of the debris
another structure, formless as yet, but
o%bstinately sturdy, was rising.
Il am not going to do what you want
me to do, Mr.. Dunham-step in and be
your convenient s%capegoat," he said,
wondering a little in his inner recesses
how he was finding the sheer brutal
mnn-cournge to say such a thing to tho
president of the L~awrenceville Bank
and Trust. 81 suppose you have rea-
sons Of your own for wishing to shift
the responsibility for this particular
loss to my shoulders. But whether you
have or haven't, l decline to accept It,"
The president tilted his chair and
locked his hands over one knee.
ut isn't a question Of shifting the
responsibility, Montague" he said,
AtlHAhB NhC buAA9AhB WGuDOn " AukG
up another, 'The loan was made in
my absence. You have taken the banks
money to bolster up a failing concern
in which you are a stakeholder. Go to
any lawyer in Lawrenceville-the best
one you can Finland he'll tell you ex
aetly where you stand"
While the big clock owe the vault
entrance was slowly ticking off a full
half-minute the young man whose fu-
ture had become so suddenly and so
threateningly involved neither moved
nor spoke, but his silence was no meas
ure Of the turmoil Of conflicting emo
lions and passions that were rending
him.
II may not prove quite the easy
mark that your plan seems to preig-
ure, Mr.. Dunham," he returned at
length, trying to say 1t calmly. "Just
what are you expecting me to dot"
"Now you are talking more like a
grown man." was the presidents crusty
admission. "You are in a pretty bad
boat, Montague, and that is why 1 sent
for you tonight"
"WellT said the younger q
"You can see how 1t will be. IF I
can say to the directors that you have
already resigned-and If you are not
where they can too easily lay hands on
you-they may not care to push the
charge against you. There is a train
west at ten o'clock. If / were in your
place, I should pack a couple of suit
cases and take It. That is the only
safe thing for you to do. If you need
any ready money"
It was at this point that j. Montague
Smith rose up out of the stenographer's
chair and buttoned his oat
"Tf I need any ready money" he
repeated slowly, advancing a step to-
ward the presidents desk. 'That Il
where you gave yourself away, Mr..
Durham. You authorized that loan,
and did 1t because you were willing to
use the banks money to put Carter
Westfall in the hole so deep that he
could never climb out. Now, it seems,
you are willing to bride the only dam
gerous witness. I don't need money
badly enough TO sell my good name for
It. I shall stay right here in Lawrence
Vile and fight It out with you'll"
The president turned abruptly to his
desk and his hand sought the row Of
electric bell-pushes. With a finger
resting upon the one marked police"
he said: "There isn't any room for
argument, Montague. You a have one
more minute in which to change your
mind. If you stay, you'll begin your
fight from the inside of the county
jail"
Now there had been nothing in John
Montague Smiths well-ordered quar-
ter century Of boyhood, youth, and
business manhood to tell him how TO
cope with the crude and savage emer-
gency which he was confronting. But
In the granted minute Of respite some
thing within him, a thing as primitive
and elemental as the crisis with which
1t was called upon to grapple, shook IT.
self awake. He stepped quickly across
the intervening space and stood under
the shaded desk light within arms
reach OF the man in the big swing
chair.
"You have It all cut and dried, even
to the setting of the police trap, haven't
your" he gritted, hardly recognizing
his own voice. "YOu meant to hang
me first and try your own case with the
directors a~fterward. Mr.. Durham,
know you better than you think I do
you are not only a crOOk-you are q
yellow-livered coward, as Well You
don't dare T. press that button"
While he was saying II, the president
had half risen, and the hand which
had been lowering owe the bell-pushes
shot suddenly under the piled papers
in the corner OF the desk. When Il
came out it was gripping the weapon
which is never very far out OF reach in
a bank.