Gresham outlook., August 28, 1914, Page 18, Image 18

HOM E AND FA RM MAGAZTXE SECTION1
14
The Greater Friendship
By Kensett Rossiter,
“ Let mo see th e m ,” dem anded M or­
Bfi | ’M HORRY I c a n ’t do i t , ” said
I
M orrison.
rison, “ th ey have been retu rn ed by
“ I t ’s only $500,” returned
B illy. * 'I can pay it back in sixty
days. ’ ’
M orrison slammed down th e cover
o f his suitcase, and regarded his room
m ate with a curious glance. He sc rib ­
b led an address on th e back o f an
envelope and handed it to Billy.
‘ ‘ Will you fo rw ard my m a il! ” he
asked.
‘ ‘ Sure,” said B illy. ‘ ‘ I hate to see
you dig out, though. They d id n ’t give
you much notice, did t h e y ! ”
‘ ‘ H ang it, n o ,” retu rn ed M orrison.
“ T h a t ’s one of the joys of being a
civil engineer. You g et sen t north in
th e w inter and smith in th e summer.
A ud hero I am sta rtin g fo r a West
ern state on eight h o u rs’ notice, Suu
day, and th e bunks closed. Are you
going to th e t r a i n ! ”
“ Y es,” said Billy. H e picked up
M o rriso n ’s suitcase. T ogether they e n ­
tered the elevator, .zalked through the
club office aud jum ped into s tax i.
On th e way to th e sta tio n th ey
scarcely spoke. M orrison knew th a t
B illy would bite his tongue o ff before
he would ask again for the loan. Billy
owed him several hundred now. The
man was d esperate; he had to have
the money, but he would not ask
Morrison a second time.
“ I am sorry, B illy ,” Morrison spoke
of his own volition. “ But I c a n ’t lend
you the money. 1 got my balance yes
terday. I ’ve only $620 in the bank
at this moment, and I ’ll need every
Cent of it. Times are p re tty s h a k y .”
" T h a t 's all right, old man— I know.
How long will you be g o n e !” he a d d ­
ed.
“ Three weeks, a t le a st; perhaps a
mont h. ’ ’
Five m inutes la te r they stood to
getlier a t the tick et gate. Billy hand
ed over his frie n d 's suitcase.
“ Bond luck, old m a n .”
Morrison took b>th th e outstretched
hand and the suitcase. “ B illy ,” said
he. “ th an k s .o r coining down. Wou’re
a good friend, any w ay ; 1 can depend
upon y o u .”
Billy smiled as he waved goodby.
The conditions on the street were
frig h tfu l. Money had never been so
tig h t Several of the big bond houses
had failed.
Banks were dem anding
paym ent on all call lonns and were
refu sin g nn extension of time. It was
th is unexpected flurry th a t had < aught
B illy ns it had caught hundreds of
others. He knew th a t he co u ld n 't bor
row a dollar, except through the chan
nel of »«me I »eran rial friend, and Mor
rison had refused bun. 11e would seek
no further. The money m arket con
tin tic i even more critical. Three days
later Billy was passing the C itiz e n ’s
T rust Company where Morrison had
his account. “ I'll be gone three weeks
at least, and possibly a m o n th .” Billy
kept repeating his frie n d 's words. He
thought h ard ; he h esitated. Why n o t!
He entered the bank boldly, secured
several of the C itizen 's T ru st Com
pany 'a blank eheeks and hurried out.
L a te th at night he bent over the desk
in his own room, forging his frie n d 's
name.
_ _ _
In the little W estern m ining town,
tw o weeks later, Morrison had a check
retu rn ed to him m arked “ No funds. ’
He telegraphed th e cashier o f the
b an k and received the following reply,
sen t collect:
“ Your account overdraw n on the
3rd inst.
“ CITIZEN S TRU ST CO.”
M orrison sat down and thought. The
hard er he thought th e more perplexed
he became Several d ay s Inter he saw
nn account in th e paper th a t the
C itizen 's T ru st Company had failed,
li e wound up his business earlier than
he had expected and returned. His
tra in got in at 2 o ’clock, he went
directly to tpe C itizen '» T ru st Com
pany, which was still doing business
u n d er the supervision of s ta te offi
eials As he approached th e cash ier's
window th a t gentlem an smiled a t him.
“ I d o n 't understand about my . a-
co u n t,' began Morrison “ You wired
th a t it was o v e rd ra w n !”
“ Y es,” returned th e other unhesi
ta tm g ly ,” you drew tw o eheeks on
U s 1st and 2nd for $310 e a c h .”
“ You d o n ’t mean h e ’s done it al­
ready?” said Myer.
“ N o ,” lied M orrison.
“ Well, never mind about B illy ,”
retu rn ed M yer. “ Jo in us a t supper,
an y w ay; y o u ’ve got to e a t som etim e.”
A gain M orrison shook his head.
I t grew d a rk outside and Morrison
sa t in th e room w ithout tu rn in g on
th e lights. E ight, nine o ’clock passed.
T here came a second knock a t the
door. Billy entered.
“ Hello, old m an ,” he called out.
M orrison shook hands w ith him as
though nothing had happened.
“ W h a t’s th e m a tte r ? ” asked Billy.
“ N o th in g .”
“ Come off! Say, you h a v e n ’t beon
n ear the C itiz e n ’s, have y o u ! ”
“ Y es.”
“ W hat did they s a y ? ”
“ W hat have th ey to s a y ! ”
“ Gad! I 'm glad to 9ee y o u ,” w ent
on Billy. “ I ’ve been on pins and
needles over since you left. Hope
y o u ’H forgive me, old m an .”
M orrison w as silent.
“ I forged tw o eheeks on you for
$310 apiece. I know the C itiz e n ’s was
in bad shape— they failed a week
la t e r .” B illy fum bled in his w allet
and finally tossed a piece of p aper on
th e table. “ I hated aw fully to do it,
old m an, b u t I knew y o u 'd do as much
fo r m e.”
Morrison picked up the slip of paper
w hich bore th e im print of the F irst
N ational B ank, the one unquestionably
sound in stitu tio n of the town. I t was
a certific a te of deposit in M orrison’s
nam e for $620.
now, of co u rse.” -
“ They h a v e ,” said the cashier,
“ your account balanced and
the
checks retu rn ed to you, as yon re
quested. ’ ’
“ As I req u ested .”
“ C e rta in ly ,” replied th e other, open­
ing a d raw er and re fe rrin g to an in ­
dex. “ As I said, von drew tw o checks
on the 1st and 2nd fo r $310 each.
On the 4th you w rote in to have your
account balanced. This was done, and
these two checks which had passed
through the clearinghouse w ere re ­
turn ed to y o u .”
“ But I d id n 't w rite th e ch eck s,” in ­
sisted Morrison. “ I d id n ’t ask you
to balance my account. I “vc been a b ­
sent from th e c ity fo r th e la st month.
I ’ve been in Wyoming. My tra in got
in only an hour ag o .”
“ Mr. M orTison,” said th e cashier,
“ there is som ething I d o n ’t under
stand about th is .”
“ T h e re 's a lot more th a t I d o n ’t
u n d e rsta n d ,” reto rted M orrison.
Tho cashier ran g for his assistan t,
excused him self ami m ade his way
to the p re sid e n t's office. A few min
utes la te r Morrison was sent for. He
d id n 't know th a t in those few min
utes they had referred to his b an k in g
record of several years, had com m uni­
cated w ith his co m p an y's office and
ascertained the tru th of his statem en t
th a t he had been absent from th e city
for a month.
“ Mr. M orrison,” began th e p resi­
d ent, “ I am going to be very frank
w ith you. When vour cheeks were r e ­
ceived we thought you had some in ­
side knowledge o f the stan d in g of the
bank. Now, however, we m ust eon
sid rr them to be forgeries, i f they are
forgeries, the person who forged them
was very clever, tin the 4th, to give
them tim e to get through the clear
inghouse, a request, evidently another
forgery, was received, asking th a t the
account be balanced. T his • as done.
We have nothing, ab olutely nothing.
t«> g" by- The checks were returned
supposi'dlv to you, and have, of
course, been d estro y ed .”
The presid en t got up and paced the
room. “ S om eone,” said he, ‘ ‘ some
one who know s you well, who knew
your plnns, who kuew vour balance
here, has accom plished this. ”
Morrison rem ained silent.
“ T hink h a rd ,” went on the banker,
“ do you know an y friend, anyone who
knew vour m ovem ents, who was hard
up, who m ight have done th is ? ”
A lump filled M orrison's thro at.
“ N o ,” he gulped.
“ Then I d o n 't see w hat we can
do,” retu rn ed th e other.
“ Nor I , ” said Morrison. H e was
suddenly anxious to close th e in ter
view.
A little later, Morrison made his
wav to his co m p an y 's office, then
w ent uptow n to his club and to his
own room. He sat on his bed w ith
his hands pressed across his eye.
“ Poor B illy t” he m uttered. M or­
rison w as stunned. He knew he could
never b rin g him self to prosecute a
friend. He could b e tte r affo rd to
lose th e $<’00 th an endure the nights
of agony which would follow if he
brought th e law down on B illy 's head.
His friend was probably th is moment
su fferin g th e torm ents of the damned,
and from th e bottom of his h eart
Morrison fe lt sorry for him
T here
came a knock on th e ou ter door.
“ Come i n .”
There en tered Freddie M yer, one of
tho old crowd.
“ H eard you were b a c k .” he greeted.
“ H ave a good trip ? Fine! Say, w e'v e I
got a box a t S h a n ta c 's ton ig h t.
Y o u 'll jo in u s ? ”
M orrison shook his head.
Freddie M yer lighted a cig arette.
“ W h a t’s become of B illy ! ” M or I
rison asked a t length. “ They told me
a t th e office th a t he has le ft th e |
club. ”
M ver shrugged his shoulders. “ No!
one k n o w s,” he returned. “ H is name
was posted th e day a fte r you left.
We h a v e n ’t seen him since. T h at
fello w 's in bad sh a p e ,” w ent on Myer.
“ H e 'll do som ething desperate if we
d o n 't w ateh h im .”
••Me will do i t ? ”
-W
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OF THIS?
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X
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>
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