"I have something more important yet to lay before you," I said boldly. "I want three hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
"What's that?" cried Partridge.
Nelson looked too shocked for words, and I repeated my request.
"What do you want it for?" demanded Partridge.
"Gentlemen," I replied, "I am sorry to say that we are face to face with the greatest danger we have yet met. Peter Bolton has made good his threat. He has struck quick and hard. He has presented for payment through the El Dorado Bank nearly four hundred and fifty thousand of Wharton Kendrick's notes, and there is only one hundred thousand in the house to pay them with. I must ask you for the balance."
Partridge drew a whistle of surprise, and Nelson turned pale.
"The old fox!" cried Nelson. "We might have known he was up to mischief."
"And he put them in through the El Dorado Bank," said Partridge reflectively. "I wonder if he is with the bank's wrecking combination."
"He is at the head of it," I said.
Partridge drummed on the desk with nervous fingers, and his face took on a grim look. As neither of my associates spoke, I said: