"
The room became silent again. All leaned forward to listen. Some placed
their hands behind their ears.
"I do not think that the drafts upon us to-day will amount to eighty
thousand dollars. You might draw that sum from the receiving teller, but
that would occasion remark. I advise you to draw from your private
accounts elsewhere one hundred thousand dollars, and quietly place it
upon my counter. I would do it without an instant's delay."
"But what guarantee have we that you will not appropriate that also?"
"I give you my word," replied Fields, with a smile.
"And to what end do you advise us to keep the bank intact?"
"That we may have time to arrange terms."
"Terms--for what?"
"For a compromise."
"Ah-ha!"
Here was a patch of blue sky--a glimpse of the sun. Fields was not
insensible to moderation, after all.
"What do you propose?" eagerly demanded three voices.
"I think you had first better insure yourselves against suspension," was
the reply.
In ten minutes one of the directors hurriedly departed, with five checks
in his wallet.
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