e other bank whose clerks are known to you, or through
some outlying branch of your own bank, and keeping that cheque out
(keeping the kite flying) until pay-day comes and you can deposit to
meet it. There is nothing dishonest in the transaction: customers
float cheques all the time. The bank cannot lose through the kiting of
clerks; only tellers who cash the kite can lose, and they know the
"flyer" before taking a chance.

Sometimes a floated cheque floats home sooner than expected, and then
there is some sudden high-financing to be done.

It was the custom in Evan's bank for the accountant to look after all
clearing items on which exchange had been added by other banks. When
the clearing men on the machines registered a bill with exchange they
laid it aside for the accountant to see. The clearing of that 23rd of
May was very heavy, and everybody was rushed.

"Here are your exchange amounts," said Marks, turning his bunch over to
Cantel.

"Do you want them now, Nelson?" asked Cantel, "or shall I rush them up
to the accountant and give them to you later?"

"Take them up," said Evan, puzzling over a badly-figured cheque, "and
wait for them. He's been holding them back lately, and the
ledger-keepers are developing claws."

When Cantel came back he had the exchange items, but he seemed
thoughtful, and looked askance at Evan.

"Nelson," he whispered, "come here; I've got something coming....
Whose cheque do you suppose Charon kept back for further investigation?"

"Not mine from Creek Bend, was it?"

"You're on."

The cash-book man's face reddened.

"I didn't expect it in for three or four days yet," he said. "Dunn
never would do a trick like that on me; he must have misunderstood."

Cantel laughed.

"I wouldn't take it so hard," he said; "everybody's doing it."

"I know," replied Evan, "but when I first came here Pen----"

"Forget it," said Cantel, turning to his work, "they need guys like you
and me around here too much to kick over a kite."

So the "C" man thought. Every junior man seems to think that he is
necessary to the bank. The older he grows the smaller he becomes in
his own estimation, because in the bank's estimation. The bank
understands the advantages of "depreciation" in stocks--and employes.

Before Evan could find a clerk who was willing or able to lend him
enough to cover the cheque for eight dollars he had issued to pay board
and buy a pair of shoes, Charon had set eyes on hi