Are we carrying his account nine thousand short on our books, and making his pass-book balance ?" "That's it, only--" "But suppose some one finds it out ?" asked Hendricks.
"Oh, now, Bob, keep your shirt on.

I fixed that.

You know they keep two separate accounts,--a general maintenance account and a bond account, and Gabe has been letting us keep the paid-off bonds in the vault and look after their cancelling, and while he was sick, I was in charge of the treasurer's office and had the run of the bank, and I squared our account at the Eastern fiscal agency and in the bond account in the treasurer's office, and fixed up the short maintenance account all with nine thousand dollars' worth of old bonds that were kicking around the vault uncancelled, and now the job is hermetically sealed so far as the treasurer and the bank are concerned." "So we can't pay it back if we want to?
Is that the way, John ?" asked Hendricks, his fingers twitching as he leaned forward in his chair.
"Ah, don't get so tragic about it.

Some day when Gabe has calmed down, and wants a renomination, I'll take him in the back room and show him the error that we've both made, and we'll just quietly put back the money and give him the laugh." There was a pause, and Barclay tilted his chair back and grinned.

"It's all right, Bob--we were where we had to do it; the books balance to a 'T' now--and we'll square it with Gabe sometime." "But if we can't--if Gabe won't be--be--well, be reasonable?
What then ?" asked Hendricks.
"Oh, well," returned John, "I've thought of that too.