Arthur was not of an anxious temperament—far from it. But he had committed himself to the bank. He had involved himself in its fortunes in no ordinary way. He had joined it against the wishes of his friends and in the teeth of the prejudices of his caste. He had staked his reputation for judgment upon its success, and assured that it would give him in the future all for which he thirsted, he had deemed himself far-sighted, and others fools. In doing this he had never dreamt of failure, he had never weighed the possibility of loss. Not once had he reflected that he might turn out to be wrong and robbed of the prize—might in the end be a laughing-stock!
Now as the possibility of all this, as the thought of failure, complete and final, flooded his mind and shook his self-confidence, he flinched. Danger! Danger, owned to by Ovington himself! Ah, he ought to have known! He ought to have suspected that fortunes were not so easily made! He ought to have reflected that Ovington’s was not Dean’s! That it was but a young bank, ill-rooted as yet—and speculative! Ay, speculative! Such a bank might fall, he was almost certain now that it would fall, as easily as it had risen!
It was a nerve-shaking vision that rose before him, and for a moment he could not hide his disorder. At any rate, he could not hide it from two jealous eyes. Clement saw and condemned—not fully understanding all that this meant to the other or the sudden strain which it put upon him. A moment and Arthur was himself again, and his first words recovered for him the elder man’s confidence. They were practical.
“How much—I mean, what extra amount of reserve,” he asked, “would make us safe?”
“Just so,” and in the banker’s eyes there shone a gleam of relief. “Well, if we had twelve thousand pounds, in addition to our existing assets, I think—nay, I am confident that that would place us out of danger.”
“Twelve thousand pounds.”
“Yes. It is not a large sum. But it might make all the difference if it came to a pinch.”
“In cash?”
“In gold, or Bank paper. Or in such securities as could be realized even in a crisis. Twelve thousand added to our reserve—I think I may say with confidence that with that we could meet any run that could be made upon us.”
“There is no doubt that we are solvent, sir?”