rchasers may still be found for the shares
of the Tiffla Mines, the Bretoneche Lands, and the Forests of
Formanoid, is it to be wondered that the Mutual Credit Company found
numerous subscribers?

It had been admirably started at that propitious hour of the
December Coup d'Etat, when the first ideas of mutuality were
beginning to penetrate the financial world.

It had lacked neither capital nor powerful patronage at the start,
and had been at once admitted to the honor of being quoted at the
bourse.

Beginning business ostensibly as an accommodation bank for
manufacturers and merchants, the Mutual Credit had had, for a number
of years, a well-determined specialty.

But gradually it had enlarged the circle of its operations, altered
its by-laws, changed its board of directors; and at the end the
original subscribers would have been not a little embarrassed to
tell what was the nature of its business, and from what sources it
drew its profits.

All they knew was, that it always paid respectable dividends; that
their manager, M. de Thaller, was personally very rich; and that
they were willing to trust him to steer clear of the code.

There were some, of course, who did not view things in quite so
favorable a light; who suggested that the dividends were suspiciously
large; that M. de Thaller spent too much money on his house, his
wife, his daughter, and his mistress.

One thing is certain, that the shares of the Mutual Credit Society
were much above par, and were quoted at 580 francs on that Saturday,
when, after the closing of the bourse, the rumor had spread that
the cashier, Vincent Favoral, had run off with twelve millions.

"What a haul!" thought, not without a feeling of envy, more than
one broker, who, for merely one-twelfth of that amount would have
gayly crossed the frontier. It was almost an event in Paris.

Although such adventures are frequent enough, and not taken much
notice of, in the present instance, the magnitude of the amount
more than made up for the vulgarity of the act.

Favoral was generally pronounced a very smart man; and some persons
declared, that to take twelve millions could hardly be called
stealing.

The first question asked was,

"Is Thaller in the operation? Was he in collusion with his cashier?"

"That's the whole question."

"If he was, then the Mutual Credit is better off than ever:
otherwise, it is gone under."

"Thaller is pretty smart."

"That Favoral was perha