“Yes, and so every one thinks. I have seldom in my life trusted the wrong man, but this time I have done so, and the one mistake seems likely to obliterate all that I have succeeded in doing in a life of hard work.”
“If I can be of any financial assistance I will be glad to help you.”
“How much?”
“Well, I don’t know—50,000 dollars perhaps or——”
“I must have 250,000 dollars before the end of this month.”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand!”
“Yes, sir. William L. Staples, the cashier of our bank, is now in Canada with half a million of the bank funds. No one knows it but myself and one or two of the directors. It is generally supposed that he has gone to Washington on a vacation.”
“But can’t you put detectives on his track?”
“Certainly. Then the theft would be made public at once. The papers would be full of it. There might be a run on the bank, and we would have to close the doors the next day. To put the detectives on his track would merely mean bringing disaster on our own heads. Staples is quite safe, and he knows it. Thanks to an idiotic international arrangement he is as free from danger of arrest in Canada as you are here. It is impossible to extradite him for stealing.”
“But I think there is a law against bringing stolen money into Canada.”