withdrew.

When Swope and Lowe arrived, Gray could with difficulty restrain
himself from blurting out the reason for his urgent summons, but he
contented himself by asking them to wait in the president's office.

Henry Nelson entered the bank with his head up, with a contemptuous
smile upon his lips and an easy confidence in his bearing. His hand was
outstretched toward the knob of Briskow's door, when the one adjoining
opened and, from the office he himself had so long occupied, Calvin
Gray spoke to him.

"Please step in here, Colonel."

Nelson recoiled. "No, thank you!" he said, curtly.

"Briskow and I are amateur bankers; there is a matter upon which we
need your advice."

"Indeed? Finding it isn't as easy to run a bank as a drilling rig? He
said you were out, otherwise--"

"Will you come in?"

Stiffly, reluctantly, as if impelled by some force outside of himself,
Nelson stepped within, but he ignored the chair that was proffered him.

Gray closed the door before saying: "The deception was mine, not
Briskow's. You prefer to stand? Um-m--I appreciate your feeling of
formality. I felt a bit ill at ease on the occasion of my first call
here, when our positions were reversed--"

"If you got me here just to be nasty--"

"By no means. Nevertheless, it gratifies my vanity to remind you that
you considered me a braggart, a bluffer, whereas--"

"I haven't changed my opinion."

"So be it. One matter, only, remains between us. I am about to ring up
on the last act of our little comedy."

"Theatrical, as always, aren't you?" Nelson's lip curled.

For a moment Gray stared at the speaker curiously; his tone had altered
when he said: "You're a better poker player than I thought. You're
almost as good a bluffer as I am. That, by the way, is probably the
last compliment I shall pay you."

"Come! I've no time to waste."

"You will soon have ample time--if not to waste, at least to meditate--"

"What do you mean by that?" The query came sharply.

"I've had an examination of the bank's books. That, as you will readily
understand, explains why I sent for you."

"Why--no. I don't--"

"I wondered how you and your father got the money to keep going so
long, for I discovered you were in a bad way even before I turned up.
It is no longer a mystery. When you and he, as directors of the
Security National, lent yourselves money, as individuals, you must have
realized that you were--well, arranging ample leisure for yo