great
hand to cipher round. Some one is out to down me; some one is givin' out
orders. Who? Mayer Zurich, I judged. He sold me a shoddy coat once. And
he wept because he couldn't loan me the money I wanted, himself. He's one
of these liers-in-wait you read about--Mayer is.

"So I didn't come to you till the last, bein' as Zurich was one of your
directors. I studied some more--and then I hunted up old Hank Bergman and
told him my troubles," said Pete suavely. "He expressed quite some
considerable solicitude. 'Why, Petey, this is a shockin' disclosure!' he
says. 'A banker is a man that makes a livin' loanin' other people's
money. Lots of marble and brass to a bank, salaries and other expenses.
Show me a bank that's quit lendin' money and I'll show you a bank that's
due to bust, _muy pronto!_ I got quite a wad in the Merchants and
Miners,' he says, 'and you alarm me. I'll give you a check for it, and
you go there first off to-morrow and see if they'll lend you what you
need. You got good security. If they ain't lendin',' he says, 'then you
just cash my check and invest it for me where it will be safe. I lose the
interest for only four days,' he says--'last Monday, the fifteenth, being
my quarter day. Hold out what you need for yourself.'

"'I don't want any,' says I. 'The First National say they can fit me out
by Wednesday if I can't get it before. Man don't want to borrow from his
friends,' says I. 'Then put my roll in the First National,' says Hank.
That's all! Only--I saw some of the other old-timers last night." Pete
fingered his sheaf significantly.

"You have us!" said Marsh. "What do you want?"

"I want the money for this check--so you'll know I'm not permeated with
any ideas about heaping coals of fire on your old bald head. Come
through, real earnest! I'll see about the rest. Exerting financial
pressure is what they call this little racket you worked on me, I
believe. It's a real nice game. I like it. If you ever mull or meddle
with my affairs again I'll turn another check. That's for your official
information--so you can keep the bank from any little indiscretions. I'm
telling you! This isn't blackmail. This is directions. Sit down and write
me a draft on El Paso."

Marsh complied. Peter Johnson inspected the draft carefully.

"So much for the bank for to-day, the nineteenth," said Pete. "Now a few
kind words for you as the individual, Mr. George Marsh, quite aside from
your capacity as a banker. You report