“Mr. Wallingford,” said Mr. Squinch, “we have about decided to accept your offer for our list, but before doing so we will have to ask you to explain to us the organization of your company.”
“Very simple,” Wallingford told them cheerfully. “It’s incorporated for a hundred thousand dollars; a thousand shares of a hundred dollars each.”
“All paid in?” Mr. Squinch wanted to know.
“All paid in,” replied Mr. Wallingford calmly.
“Indeed!” commented Mr. Squinch. “Who owns the stock?”
“My four office assistants own one share each and I own the balance.”
A smile pervaded the faces of all but one of the members of the board of directors of the defunct National Building and Loan Association. Even Tom Fester’s immovable countenance presented a curiously strained appearance. Strange as it may seem, the dummy-director idea was no novelty in New Jersey.
“I take it, then, that the paid-in capitalization of the company is not represented in actual cash,” said Mr. Squinch.
“No,” admitted Wallingford cheerfully. “As a matter of fact, at our first meeting the directors paid me ninety-five thousand dollars for my plan of operation.”
Again broad smiles illuminated the faces of the four, and this time Tom Fester actually accomplished a smile himself, though the graining might be eternally warped.