Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 34, Number 83, 30 January 1909 — Page 6

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1 OU R SflORT 6TORY B4.GB I

I UNEARTHED the thing this morning from ' my little box In the safety-deposit vaults of the Eureka bank. It lay, still crisp and gorgeous, in a thick package of similar documents stock certificates, once as glittering with hopes as they were profusely gilded. What alluring, fantastic names they had these" defunct enterprises in Golconda Land! The Sin-bad-Trachyte Copper Mining and Smelting Company, the Snowstorm Hydraulic Mining Company (that was gold, and the certificates had a delicate vignette picturing a valley among the serried peaks of the upper Rockies). Whatever gold there may be in that lofty valley still sleeps undisturbed beneath the Colorado snows. There was an oil company in West Virginia, and out in Idaho there was Flagg's Water-Hoister Development and Irrigation Company. Note, if you will, the geographical sweep of our enterprises; they covered half the states of the Union besides Mexico, and their variety alone gave them an air of Oriental opulence. . And here were the Inventions, too: "Gas and Slag," a . popular name for a process of manufacturing acetylene gas out of waste, and the Grass Mat Company, which had a machine that could make something better than a TurkisL rug out of reeds or plain marsh grass. But the grandest of all, the one I always handle with a special thrill, the one that first led us astray was Ensenada Asphalt Limited! (Why limited? I ask myself now.) It had a beautiful picture of an extinct crater, from which there flowed a black stream, representing presumably that article of commerce, pure asphaltum. There was nothing limited in our expectations of what that stream would do for us. Well, I believe we got our money's worth out of them all, in a way; and as I carefully replaced these outlawed drafts on the bank of Hope at the bottom of my tin box and locked them up for ayiother long sleep, I sighed a middle-age sigh and thought of those vivid months when we were Chasing rainbows. What had we to do with "highly speculative enterprises" or more plainly "wildcat schemes"? Poor college professors, hired at clerks' wages to teach the Beauty of Truth and the Truth of Beauty to a couple of thousand American youths? Perhaps that was the reason we had no business whatever to go rainbow chasing. And yet we drew some fat dividends, of a kind. John Jefferson Solomon was our first promoter In Rainbow Land. He was then professor of Metallurgy In the Scientific School of Eureka University, where I still hold the chair of Romance. Solomon was a hairy, brawny, chubby six-foot professor, which is a rarity in the species. He had, I know, a thinly veiled contempt for merely polite learning, which he vented often in sarcastic remarks before the faculty. So It was with a feeling of agreeable surprise that I accepted an Invitation to his rooms, where as he said he had "something to put before me.". We had met -at the Campus Club, where I usually dropped in of an afternoon to read the evening paper. Little MacWllllams, a clever youngster who was assisting me In the department, was playing billiards at the time and joined us. I do not remember that Solomon invited Mac, but the lad was not bashful and often followed me about. Solomon's study was crammed with a dusty litter of geological reports, specimens of ores, maps, and outing togs. Tiptoeing about the room, while our host dug out some chairs, I found a basin reposing on the window ledge that contained what looked to be a mess of tar. "Melton," Solomon said gravely, taking the basin tenderly between his hairy fingers, "do you know what Asphaltum is?" I admitted a layman's general acquaintance with, that useful substance. Solomon, tapping the basin, exclaimed: "This is crude Asphaltum!" Then he gave ua a little professional talk on the commercial importance of the substance. "Melton," Solomon finished Impressively, fondling that sticky mess in the wash basin, "I have been hunting for an asphalt lake for twenty years. You just dip out the stuff and more comes In from below. You can't exhaust it." "A real widow's cruise!" Mac commented frivolously. ."At last," Solomon continued in condescending tones, "I think I have found one that is, one of my old students has found it among the mountains of Lower California. "I've been making tests of this sample Jennings sent up. It is prime quality, almost pure asphaltum. I have wired Jennings to go to the City of Mexico and get a concession from the government." Mac whistled and hung over the specimen as If he would like to eat it. "Then we shall form a small company, incorporate for a . million, I suppose," Solomon suggested lightly, as if that was something he did" every week. ' "Why. you'll make your fortune," I murmured enviously. "It does look like a good thing," he admitted calmly, and after a slight pause he said: "Might let you have a block of the stock, Melton, if you have a few thousands you would like to invest Just now." "That's mighty good of you, Sol," I stammered, gratified that this man, of large affairs should think I kept a few thousands of idle cash by me. "We shan't put out much stock," he explained, "but I could let you have a few hundred shares." "I don't believe that I could manage as much as that," I said timidly, thinking of the twelve hundred dollars Ada and I had painfully scraped together since our marriage for that year in Europe. "The first subscribers, of course, won't be expected to pay par," Solomon suggested. "Say a couple of hundred shares at twenty-five? You can give me your check for what's convenient and make your note for the rest. I expect that we shall be paying dividends before the note would fall due." I. hurriedly subtracted twelve hundred dollars from five thousand; It left a large balance and Ada didn't believe in debts. Then I thought of Aunt Silva's bequest to my wife. We called it the building fund, and it reposed In the savings bank. Some time we meant to build a little cottage on the hills. across the river. "Couldn't you let me have eome stock, Mr. Solomon?" MacWilliams demanded eagerly, his cheek flaming. "Oh, well, how much?" Solomon asked indifferently. "Ten shares. Bay. I shall get some' money from a book I'm doing," Mac explained, "and I want a good chance to invest it." "All right," the great man agreed good-naturedly. "I guess you can have your ten shares." Then we talked asphalt until long after the dinner hour, and Mae and -I talked it all the way back to my house. I held my head high as Capi- , talist and Partner in Prosperity when I entered my front door4. That trip to , Spain and Italy might have to be deferred for another year; but when we went we should make the journey in a forty-horse-power ,, touring ; car instead of third class on the railroad. My fervor was somewhat dampened by . Ada, who had kept dinner waiting for me. It took some time to get her interested In Asphaltum- women are generally deficient in constructive Imagination and when I mentioned Aunt Silva's money she protested: "The building fund! And it's doing so nicely In the bank!" "fiat tU is a rare opportunity for a much. in.

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perior Investment! Why, the dividends in a year or two will enable us to build out of our income." Although Ada was not wholly fired with my enthusiasm. I went to bed that

night to dream of a river of viscous gold that slowly filled the room and threatened to engulf us in its sticky folds. Little Mac and I were not to be the only sharers in Solomon's luck. For a few days I went about my work bursting privately with a consciousness of coming wealth. Then one morning Silverton he was in Church History stopped me on the steps of the library, a new furrow in hs puckered forehead, and plucking me anxiously by the arm whispered into my ear: "What about this new discovery by Professor Solomon? Asphalt, I understand, and extraordinarily lucrative. . . . The royalties on my new book are about due, and I am looking for a good thing. Do you suppose you could get me a few shares?" I promised to use my influence with Solomon, and shaking my hand warmly he hurried away briskly to his class. Silverton had a growing family, growing in every way. And there were others, I soon learned Tompkins in Neurology, and Lane in Physics, and Stowaway in Math. Stow had paid cash a thousand ( dollars for thirty shares; so the price had already risen! ... It was not long before Ensenada Asphalt was as familiarly referred to on the campus as B. R. T. or U. P. in Wall Street. Even before those splendid certificates appeared to gladden our eyes, options on Asphalt were changing hands at the

Campus Club, and there was much academic "paper" In circulation. Soon after the arrival of the certificates it was rumored that no more stock was being issued. The great Dennison Flagg, the swell of our little community, had gone to Solomon personally to secure some stock, offering par and cash, and had been refused! There might possibly have been something personal behind this refusal; but the news sent Asphalt 'flying upward on the "campus curb," which was Sandy Cork's ribald designation for our transactions. Flagg, so Sandy told me, piqued

by Sol's curt refusal to "Jet him In, had started a rival investment, the famous which there flows another tale, financial ferment, during which

markable collection of stock certificates that I have enumerated. Most of these were due to Solo-, mon. Sandy Cork said that he bred schemes like kittens in his 'laboratory he always had a few in his pockets to peddle out. And we all took some shares to show our good will; but there was nothing in the lot to equal Ensenada. . . . When the news reached us that President Diaz had graciously granted a concession of that extinct volcano to the Ensenada company. Asphalt began to soar; the club seethed with rumors. One morning while Ada and I were beginning our breakfast, little Mac burst In, his eyes glittering with fever, his hair mussed as If he had not 6een his bed in many nights. "Have you heard the news?" he shouted from the door, barely nodding to Ada. "Jennings has arrived, and a great financial swell with him,. a Mr. Delano. Things are doing over at Sol's." "Well, drink a cup of coffee," I said, assuming an outward calm. "They're thinking of forming a new company, you know. Bonds and all that. Asphalters get in on the first basement! ... I'm going over to Sol's now." He paused long enough at the door to call back: "May and I won't wait until the fall maybe look out for cards!" As the door clicked behind the little man, Ada remarked severely to me: "Asphalt's gone to his brain, Joe. This high finance is too much for him." (Latterly my wife bad contracted an ironical habit of expression that was annoying to me.) "You know, Joe, you are responsible for that boy's getting Into this speculation business." "He does seem a bit off his head this morning," I replied, without discussing the remark. "I'll drop in at Solomon's and see what is on." "Joe!" my wife began. "Oh. I have no idea of going any deeper In Asphalt." "I should think not!" And Ada magnanimously refrained from further reference to the large hole we had made in the building fund. Most of it, in fact, had been sunk in Asphalt. "Sunk" illomened word! III. I met Silverton In front of my house, on his way to an early class. Now in the old days, before rainbow hues had begun to stain the placid horizon of Eureka, my good colleague would have propounded to me some juicy point in the Cistercian rule. But to-day he exclaimed: "Have you heard about this Mr. Delano?" And when we had exhausted asphalt rumors, he remarked, "I saw they had made a great strike in the Bull Frog mine, same district as Trachyte, I believe." We were all modernizing fast. I know that Silverton wanted to cut his classes and accompany me to see the financial power at Solomon's. But habit forced his feet into the path of duty. ... Solomon's room was full of cigar smoke, and over a map on the desk there were bent four heads, while little Mac, danced about in the rear. One of the four was Dennison Flagg. to my surprise I did not thetf realize the rapid. changes in financial alliances A bronzed young man I guessed was Jennings, who had located the lake. And the fat. baldheaded gentleman, smoking a cigar, with his pudgy forefinger on the map, must be the great Delano, our financial Aeneas! Solomon Introduced me: "Mr. Delano, I want to make you acquainted with Professor Melton, one of our original stockholders." "Happy to meet yon, professor," the fat magnate said, squeezing my hand with his unoccupied fist. "Mr. Delano is advising as to the best method of developing our concession," Solomon explained. "ym Professor," Mr. Delano drawled, squinting

at the map. "What you've got to do Is to form a new company, lease your rights to it. and issue some bonds to pay for the road and plant and all that. And there you are!" He puffed at his cigar, and it seemed very simple. "Just run your line to this point on the S. P. and a spur to Saint what you call um, on the gulf. Then if the S. P. folks won't talk business you've got your water freight. It's as smooth as a fiddle." He put a thick thumb on a corner of the map. "That's all it is, a couple of hundred miles or so. And easy grades, I bet!" On the map it looked certainly no more than that, the thickness of Mr. Delano's thumb a thick thumb, to be sure. "Well. I must be going a little matter with some gentlemen at the Grand Union. I'll see you to-morrow, Mr. Solomon. Good morning, gentlemen," and the financial power, with a sweeping bow to include us all, disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Solomon after him. When Solomon returned, he explained to me. "Mr. Delano has very extensive connections with moneyed people. I have asked him to be the president of the development company. He will be of great use to us in floating our bonds." "But where do asphalters come In in the new

THE PRESIDENT SWUNG AROUND BIS CHAIR SWIVEL.

"Buckets," from It was a time of I made that re-

deal?" little Mac asked with youthful bluntness. From the animated discussion that followed, I gathered that Solomon who controlled our old company, would turn it over body and soul to the new company. Jennings and Delano between them were to hold over half of the stock In the new company it was to be a small issue, oh, very select! Solomon and. his friends In the old company would divide the rest. But there was some sort of an understanding between Flagg and Solomon, the nature of which. I was never to know perfectly. At last Solomon drew Mac and me to one side, and said in a brotherly tone of confidence: "Of course I don't mean to see you two fellows get left. I'll let you have some of my stock five shares for you, Melton, and one for you. The price? We'll settle that later." "What a splendid fellow Sol Is!" Mac exclaimed fervently when we were out In the street. "He might have kept it all to himself, but he won't go back on his friends." Then grasping my arm convulsively, he added: "I must tell you, Joe, Molly and I were married last week at St. Paul." "What ." "You see we wanted to save all the fuss. The vacation begins so soon, and she would have had to go back to her people, 'way off In Wyoming, -and wait there. It will be all right. I'm going to grind all summer, and we shall board at the Hall. ... Of course it won't be easy for her! But Sol says we must have dividends before next winter, and we can scratch on somehow until then." It was no use to talk prudence, and I suspected that I hadn't the right. When I met my patient 'wife, I torn her the news about the Macs, to break the other news, perhaps. "What!" she exclaimed aghast. "Those two babies, without a cent! It's criminal Joe, how could you let them?" I protested that I wasn't to blame for their folly.' and that very likely all would go well; a little struggle was a good thing; and then there was Ensenada. "Asphalt!" my wife sniffed. "Mac had better spend his time earning some money to to pay the bills. It's bad enough for a man with a settled position like you to waste your time in such wildcat speculation, but a little assistant like that boy!" . rv. The "curb" was naturally agitated by the new developments in Asphalt. Soon there was gnashing when it became known that the new company's stock was not to be had by the common herd. Mac could have disposed of his promise of one share, for which he had given his note, at a handsome profit enough to have started the couple in housekeeping on a modest footing. I advised him to take his profits. But I believe that If Mr. Morgan's banking house had offered him a couple of hundred thousand for his Interest in Asphalt he would have scorned them. . . , That was the crest of the bull movement in Asphalt, th-i afternoon when Solomon appeared on the campus In a big motor side by side with T. Allerton Delano, who. It was quickly rumored, was connected with the Standard OU crowd. (We all excoriated the great trust at Eureka, but we felt gratified.) The long vacation opened, and the curb market went into a period of stagnation during the hot weather. Ada and I took our vlllagatura on a fruit farm In Michigan Instead of sailing for the shores of the Mediterranean as we had planned. We had let the little Maes camp in our house while we were away. It would be a bit more bridelike than the Hall, my wife said, and we left them there as happy as kittens. Solomon had gone to examine the "properties" with Jennings and Delano. . . . When we all gathered for the fall term, then was a brisk optalag on the euro.

Buckets, to be sure, had slumped. The inventor had spent his time inventing a flying machine that wouldn't fly instead of improving his water

motor. But Flagg had a working model of the motor rigged in his room; it worked so well that the overflow had leaked down Into the club reading room Sandy pointed out the yellow stain on the ceiling with great glee. When Solomon turned up for his classes, several weeks late, very much bronzed, he had acquired an air of importannt mystery, which disconcerted the curb. "Yes." he announced, "the asphalt was there 'all right, and lots of it. Things were moving very satisfactory. The survey for the road was being made; it would be a little longer than they had expected, say a hundred or a hundred and fifty miles, depending on the route. There was a desert or two on the way. but they should use electric traction, etc., etc. In a word it was all most promising, but we must exercise patience great affairs moved slowly. Mr. Delano was now in New York arranging for the disposal of the bonds." It was an afternoon In March, I think, that Ada came back from the Macs with a serious look in her pleasant eyes. "Joe," she said to me as we sat down to our frugal supper (it was supper when no one else shared it with us; otherwise, dinner), "Joe, when is that clay pit of Solomon's going to pay up?" "You mean Asphalt, dear? I don't exactly know. Solomon has been away a good deal this winter and I haven't seen him lately. I suspect there have been delays In the

c o n s t r uction. You know that large enterprises ran't be ordered like a shirt

waist there are contingencies always." "Um. it must not take forever, though. The Macs are dreadfully poor! And there are those horrid notes to pay. I should think that Professor Solomon could see that they haven't a cent. He's screwing blood out of them." "Solomon Is not to blame; it Mae has prom lsed more than be can " "Oh, I know. But, Joe, something's going to happen to those " poor children!" She looked significantly at me. "So soon?" I gasped. My wife nodded her head with, a woman's assurance.

"And they haven't any money to pay the doctor, let alone the nurse and servant, and all the rest!" I whistled! "You must do something, Joe!" V. Meantime asphalt did not come on, not at all. but the Something That Was Going to Happen to the little' Macs did come on, with the precision of nature. And that final note for two hundred dollars, the one that represented Mac's minute Interest In the dog's tall, had fallen due. Mae had begged an extension from Solomon, but the promoter had declared that the note was In the company's treasury, beyond his reach. Then the boy came to us. The cheeky, cherubic smile that had been his chief capital had faded months ago. but now he was really haggard. "It Isn't so much that I lose that share," he explained, "but Sol hinted that the old Ensenada stock wouldn't be worth much not for a long time. So it will all go!" Ada turned on me with her executive manner: "Joe," she said, "you must find Mr. Solomon and make him take back all Mac's stock at the price he paid for it." "But. my dear " It was Impossible to make Ada understand the nature of financial transactions. In the end I put on my hat and went in search of Sol. He was not in his office, nor at his rooms, nor at the club. I was relieved. But just as I was about to return to report to my wife. Dennison Flagg hailed me. His face was very red. and he was excitedly wiping his glasses or pulling his mustache. "Do you know where that cursed bounder, 6olo-e mon, is?" he demanded curtly. When I replied that I had searched for the gentleman, unsuccessfully, he burst forth: "Oh. he's sneaked off somewhere! He knows too much to let me catch him. Sold me a hundred shares in his gold brick at par. and let that tinhorn gambler Delano In at fifty. Gave him some bonds, too. I expect he's paid nothing down for his own stock." "Yon are mistaken," I said frigidly. "Mr. Solomon let me have five shares of his allotment at two hundred dollars per share, the price he paid for them." I thought Flagg would have a lit. "Let me look at you," he said after a while. "I want to see a greener sucker than myself. Two hundred!" "Cash." I added. "And you gave him twice the par value, and ho never paid a cent!" I was not in a happy frame of mind when I went back to Ada. I did not want to see Solomon my heart was too sore. "Well?" she asked, as I hung np my hat and coat. "Ada," I said solemnly, "I have been an awful fooL" To her credit let it be said that she never made one of all the remarks she might have made. After a moment of thought she said: "We must bring the Macs here; It can't happen in those two rooms." I looked about oar tiny premises and thought of that castle across the river, which I felt sure would never be built, out of asphalt. "Yon will have to sleep in yonr study, of coarse, Joe. I shall give them onr room. And Joe. I think we ought to pay back to Mac what he spent for the stock." (Please note the we!) "I've saved nearly three hundred dollars for the trip. I guess we'll have to cultivate onr garden nearer home in Michigan. Instead." I kissed her silently. "For we are responsible for Mae the example, yon know." And I teas a aas4

Events moved rapidly the next few -hours; they always do within sight of the catastrophe! First Mac came to my office, swelling with excitement. There had been a fearful row over at Uie club between Solomon and Flagg. so Sandy Cork had reported. Flagg had' lost his temper, and called Sol all manner of names swindler, blackleg, tln-hora gambler. And Sol had retorted with remarks about "Buckets." Then old Silverton had come around, panting to get his money back for the Ensenada stock; said some one tola him that it would cost more than it was worth to get our asphalt to market; and Sol had said something about the Panama canal, and Flagg had talked about the canals in Mars. Then Sol had got mad and told Silverton that the Ensenada company was leased with all its rights for ninety-nine years, and Silverton had gone off to see the President, wringing his hands and vowing he was ruined. . . . It took me some time to get Mac's stock out of him at the price he had paid. I don't know whether he believed I was trying to take advantage of his helpless state or not. But I made him take the three hundred dollars. I went to my seminar In old. French my heart heavy after the rainbow debauch, seeing life and human nature very gray. In the midst of an explanation of a corrupt passage In the Song of Roland. Into which I was trying to put some of my old-time fire, dismissing for the moment the cares of finance, the President's page appeared in the door with a little note: the President of Eureka University would like to see me In his office at the close of the hour! I brushed against Sandy Cork In the hall on my way to the President's office. His face wore a wicked grin as he asked: "Are yon holding a stockholders' meeting in the Prex's office?" ... . And they were all assembled when the President's stenographer let me into the private office poor old Silverton. woe-begone and fluttered; Dennison Flagg. somewhat wilted, but glowering; J. Jefferson Solomon, his hands In his pockets, sullen and defiant; and little Mac with several others who had been active on the curb. ' The President swung around In his swivel chair his handsome face serious and somewhat sad. ' Ho scraped his throat in that Impressive manner ho had when he addressed the united faculties: "Gentlemen, there have been brought to my notice certain financial transactions among members of the faculty, of what might be called a speculative nature. Mr. Melton, will yon kindly give me your version of the dealings in er " "Asphalt," Flagg supplied. "And Buckets." Solomon snapped. I told the story briefly, blushing, at certain passages, especially when It came to my ready acquiescence In the scheme to Ignore the original stockholders 'by the possessors -of the talL Then Silverton confessed to his little dream of riches, and Mac that boy had good stuff In him; he refused to say more than that he had Invested some money through Mr. Solomon! Then the two financial powers told their story, with many contradictions. In the end the President sat with lowered head for a moment: "Sacra fames auri!" he quoted with his funny old-fashioned pronunciation. I winced, but I don't think Solomon understood. "Gentlemen," he continued, not unkindly, "I think that most of you have been nothing more than childish. Suppose r you return all the chips to one another, so far as you can, and try to forget it I need not point out the folly of such enterprises to men in your post- . tion, nor the Indecorum of the example you offer to the youth under your charge an example of greed and preoccupation with the sordid side of life." We rose, crestfallen, and prepared to sneak out. He stopped there.- Perhaps he relt the unconscious Irony of his remarks as applied to the poorly paid men of his faculty. "I hope." he resumed with a sweet smile, "that . you will not invest again in Spanish castles or Asphalt! Six per cent, mortgages are safer." "Mr. Solomon," the President said la a different tone of voice, "you will be kind enough to wait after the others go. Good morning, gentlemen!" I was glad that Solomon had been detained; I should not like to meet him. not Just yet. I took my way homeward at a reflective pace. "Sacra fames auri!" Ah. how it tainted all that It touched. I could never again take Solomon's hand without thinking that he had done to me that mean and dirty trick under temptation. I am older now than when like a silly, greedy boy I Invested Aunt Silva's legacy In Ensenada Asphalt; but over and over again have I seen the same thing. In big or little, the debasing thirst for unearned riches. ... Ada met me at the door, atwlnkle with excite-: ment, "Joe! 8he's up there all installed. I took a carriage and brought her over. It won't be more than a few days now before It happens. - - And. Joe. I've got something for you!" . She led me into my cubbyhole of a dea and?

pointeo to a rat volume on the desk. I knew the Chronlque at a glance the copy I had eyed ltt Chappell's window for months. "But. my dear." I protested. "There was sixteen dollars and thlrty-flve cent left of Aunt Silva's money. And I don't see why I shouldn't have my spree as well as you. your oldi asphalt!" After that "Black Monday" on the campus curb, as Sandy dubbed the day we had our Interview with the President, there was a complete silence with reference to Ensenada Asphalt. Buckets, and the rest. No one ever showed a certificate. If he had one. A few optimistic souls, to be sure, talked for a time about what would happen with "those properties." when the canal was opened. But the canal hasn't opened yet. and besides I heard from Flagg the other day that the Ensenada concession expired according to its terms some years ago. Probably whatever equity there max be in the concern resides in the pockets of Mr. Delano, whose last address was the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Solomon very shortly after the explosion accepted a call to a school of mines somewhere la Idaho, much to my relief. I don't know whether Sandy Cork's merciless roasting in the club play that year had anything to do with his departure, or the President's final remarks. But he went. And the rest of ns had humor enough to laugh freely at Sandy's quips at our expense. ..." The little Macs are happy and obviously poor, though the President put him up that spring. We haven't built our house across the river yet. though we had that deferred trip to Spain this last winter, and Ada, Is such a shrewd manager we may get the house yet. without the aid of Asphalt or Aunt Silva's bequest. I have had a good deal of satisfaction out of that stock certificate first and last. I ought to be able to forgive old Sol! Whenever I am tempted by some of the splendid "investment propositions' poured In on me by man from financial houses that seemingly have but one purpose in existence and that Is to make me rich. I go down to nay box in the safety-deposit vault and get out the handsome certificate of the Ensenada Asphalt Development Company, five shares, "full paid and non-assessable." And I murmui orer, "Sacra fames aari."