Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 7, 1922 — page 51: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

WANTED: A BANK PRESIDENT. ‘Mostly in tens and fives.” ‘What? At two thirty in the afternoon? Bus! He wants it mostly in tens and fives. I suppose, Hez, you’ve come all cocked and primed with various and sundry forms of collateral and other valu’bles.” ‘“‘T ain’t come cock and primed with naw- thin’,” retorted Hezekiah. “I guess if my face ain’t good for fifteen hundred measly dollars I better go farm it out some place for a butcher’s choppin’ block.” “You want all the money now, or be you goin’ t’ leave some of it on deposit. We got some of the prettiest little checkbooks—” “That’s right; I'll take half in cash and leave seven fifty subject to check. By gosh! Them folks over to the Sands County give me a severe pain. Young Ed French—-say, who give him a license to run a bank, any- how?” “Why, Ed French? He’s an expert. He’s a goin’ to revolutionize bankin’ meth- ods around this neck of the woods. What’s he gone and done to you, Hez?” ‘Oh, nawthin’. Only I went in there in kind of a rush a little spell ago— Say, you know when the Sands County was or- g’nized I was one of the ones that said I’d patternize it. I cal’lated this here town was big enough for two banks—don’t know but it 1s, too. ‘“Kep’ quite a scad o’ money there for the last five year. Of course it warn’t active money; maybe I oughter kep’ it movin’. I never borried a cent, nuther. This year I sorter spread myself on wheat, and you know how it is—bigger prices comin’ long Christmas, sure’s shootin’. I says to myself, dum if I sell everything just now; I’ll hang on a bit. Went into Sands County and asked as polite as you please for fifteen hun- dred, and what do you think? They had to have my pedigree clean away back to Adam, and Ed French, he said he’d put it up to his executive board to-morrow mornin’—an’ me needin’ the money to pay off with to-night— say, I was mad! ‘‘ And then I happened to think. You got a gal, Beth; she was to my house a chinnin’ with th’ old lady not long sence, and dum if she didn’t get her to put the missionary fund into your bank. Showed her all about runnin’ a checkin’ account and all that, and 197 had her and some other women folks in here and showed ’em around—say, thinks I, me and Joe Benson always been pretty good friends. He knows me root and branch and dog my cats if bankin’ don’t run into the whole family—all except maybe young Joe. “Bet you, I says to myself, Joe Benson ain’t goin’ to put on no style if I go over’n ask him for a little change to help a feller out. SolI done it. Say, did I act mad when I come in here? I was, by gorry! I was good an’ het up; little squirt like Ed French askin’ me a lot o’ fool questions and fillin’ of ’em out on a card half as big as a news- paper! ‘“ Thanks, Joe; and say, you and the wo- men take a run out our way, will ye? We got some turrible good king apples—and maybe if the ol’ woman’s back’s turned I might sneak down-cellar’n see what I could fitid—gosh, I usu’lly can put my hand on somethin’—don’t believe Sheriff Osgood’s beat me to it this year, neither.” CHAPTER VII. A PIECE IN THE PAPER. R. BDWARD CHESTERTON FRENCH sat in his office of presi- dent of the Sands County Trust and Savings Company, leisurely perusing the Templeton Morning Breeze. ‘“ Hello!” he remarked aloud. He read a second time the following para- graph: We are informed on excellent authority that our well-known local financial institu- tion, the Benson Bank, is enjoying an unpre- cedented era of prosperity. It is reported that a very heavy increase in deposits has taken place this autumn, and that the bank’s out- standing loans have been heavily augmented, owing to unusually favorable crop conditions in our outlying districts. But the news item which seems calcu- lated to create a considerable stir is the an- nouncement that President Joseph Benson and Mrs. Benson are planning an extended trip around the world, necessitating an absence from our midst of the greater part of a year. During Mr. Benson's absence his duties will be assumed by his daughter, Miss Elizabeth Ben- son, whose election to the office of president, as well as chairman of the board, was con- COMmiclboo SS C©