Other People's Money

  PART II. FISHING IN TROUBLED WATERS.

  I

  "When I think," said Coleridge, "that every morning, in Paris alone,thirty thousand fellows wake up, and rise with the fixed and settledidea of appropriating other people's money, it is with renewed wonderthat every night, when I go home, I find my purse still in my pocket."

  And yet it is not those who simply aim to steal your portemonnaiewho are either the most dishonest or the most formidable.

  To stand at the corner of some dark street, and rush upon the firstman that comes along, demanding, "Your money or your life," is but apoor business, devoid of all prestige, and long since given up tochivalrous natures.

  A man must be something worse than a simpleton to still ply histrade on the high-roads, exposed to all sorts of annoyances on thepart of the gendarmes, when manufacturing and financial enterprisesoffer such a magnificently fertile field to the activity ofimaginative people.

  And, in order to thoroughly understand the mode of proceeding inthis particular field, it is sufficient to open from time to time acopy of "The Police Gazette," and to read some trial, like that, forinstance, of one Lefurteux, ex-president of the Company for theDrainage and Improvement of the Orne Swamps.

  This took place less than a month ago in one of the police-courts.

  The Judge to the Accused--Your profession?

  M. Lefurteux--President of the company.

  Question--Before that what were you doing?

  Answer--I speculated at the bourse.

  Q--You had no means?

  A--I beg your pardon: I was making money.

  Q--And it was under such circumstances that you had the audacityto organize a company with a capital stock of three million offrancs, divided in shares of five hundred francs?

  A--Having discovered an idea, I did not suppose that I was forbiddento work it up.

  Q--What do you call an idea?

  A--The idea of draining swamps, and making them productive.

  Q--What swamps? Yours never had any existence, except in yourprospectus.

  A--I expected to buy them as soon as my capital was paid in.

  Q--And in the mean time you promised ten per cent to yourstockholders.

  A--That's the least that draining operations ever pay.

  Q--You have advertised?

  A--Of course.

  Q--To what extent?

  A--To the extent of about sixty thousand francs.

  Q--Where did you get the money?

  A--I commenced with ten thousand francs, which a friend of mine hadlent me; then I used the funds as they came in.

  Q--In other words, you made use of the money of your first dupes toattract others?

  A--Many people thought it was a good thing.

  Q--Who? Those to whom you sent your prospectus with a plan of yourpretended swamps?

  A--Excuse me. Others too.

  Q--How much money did you ever receive?

  A--About six hundred thousand francs, as the expert has stated.

  Q--And you have spent the whole of the money?

  A--Permit me? I have never applied to my personal wants anythingbeyond the salary which was allowed me by the By-laws.

  Q--How is it, then, that, when you were arrested, there were onlytwelve hundred and fifty francs found in your safe, and that amounthad been sent you through the post-office that very morning? Whathas become of the rest?

  A--The rest has been spent for the good of the company.

  Q--Of course! You had a carriage?

  A--It was allowed to me by Article 27 of the By-laws.

  Q--For the good of the company too, I suppose.

  A--Certainly. I was compelled to make a certain display. The headof an important company must endeavor to inspire confidence.

  The Judge, with an Ironical Look--Was it also to inspire confidencethat you had a mistress, for whom you spent considerable sums ofmoney?

  The Accused, in a Tone of Perfect Candor--Yes, sir.

  After a pause of a few moments, the judge resumes,

  Q--Your offices were magnificent. They must have cost you a greatdeal to furnish.

  A--On the contrary, sir, almost nothing. The furniture was allhired. You can examine the upholsterer.

  The upholsterer is sent for, and in answer to the judge's questions,

  "What M. Lefurteux has stated," he says, "is true. My specialty isto hire office-fixtures for financial and other companies. I furnishevery thing, from the book-keepers' desks to the furniture for thepresident's private room: from the iron safe to the servant's livery.In twenty-four hours, every thing is ready, and the subscribers cancome. As soon as a company is organized, like the one in question,the officers call on me, and, according to the magnitude of thecapital required, I furnish a more or less costly establishment. Ihave a good deal of experience, and I know just what's wanted.When M. Lefurteux came to see me, I gauged his operation at a glance.Three millions of capital, swamps in the Orne, shares of five hundredfrancs, small subscribers, anxious and noisy.

  "'Very well,' I said to him, 'it's a six-months' job. Don't go intouseless expenses. Take reps for your private office: that's goodenough.'"

  The Judge, in a tone of Profound Surprise--You told him that?

  The Upholsterer, in the Simple Accent of an Honest Man--Exactly asI am telling your Honor. He followed my advice; and I sent him redhot the furniture and fixtures which had been used by the RiverFishery Company, whose president had just been sent to prison forthree years.

  When, after such revelations, renewed from week to week, withinstructive variations, purchasers may still be found for the sharesof the Tiffla Mines, the Bretoneche Lands, and the Forests ofFormanoid, is it to be wondered that the Mutual Credit Company foundnumerous subscribers?

  It had been admirably started at that propitious hour of theDecember Coup d'Etat, when the first ideas of mutuality werebeginning to penetrate the financial world.

  It had lacked neither capital nor powerful patronage at the start,and had been at once admitted to the honor of being quoted at thebourse.

  Beginning business ostensibly as an accommodation bank formanufacturers and merchants, the Mutual Credit had had, for a numberof years, a well-determined specialty.

  But gradually it had enlarged the circle of its operations, alteredits by-laws, changed its board of directors; and at the end theoriginal subscribers would have been not a little embarrassed totell what was the nature of its business, and from what sources itdrew its profits.

  All they knew was, that it always paid respectable dividends; thattheir manager, M. de Thaller, was personally very rich; and thatthey were willing to trust him to steer clear of the code.

  There were some, of course, who did not view things in quite sofavorable a light; who suggested that the dividends were suspiciouslylarge; that M. de Thaller spent too much money on his house, hiswife, his daughter, and his mistress.

  One thing is certain, that the shares of the Mutual Credit Societywere much above par, and were quoted at 580 francs on that Saturday,when, after the closing of the bourse, the rumor had spread thatthe cashier, Vincent Favoral, had run off with twelve millions.

  "What a haul!" thought, not without a feeling of envy, more thanone broker, who, for merely one-twelfth of that amount would havegayly crossed the frontier. It was almost an event in Paris.

  Although such adventures are frequent enough, and not taken muchnotice of, in the present instance, the magnitude of the amountmore than made up for the vulgarity of the act.

  Favoral was generally pronounced a very smart man; and some personsdeclared, that to take twelve millions could hardly be calledstealing.

  The first question asked was,

  "Is Thaller in the operation? Was he in collusion with his cashier?"

  "That's the whole question."

  "If he was, then the Mutual Credit is better off than ever:otherwise, it is gone under."

  "Thaller is pretty smart."

  "That Favoral was perhaps
more so still."

  This uncertainty kept up the price for about half an hour. But soonthe most disastrous news began to spread, brought, no one knewwhence or by whom; and there was an irresistible panic.

  From 425, at which price it had maintained itself for a time, theMutual Credit fell suddenly to 300, then 200, and finally to 150francs.

  Some friends of M. de Thaller, M. Costeclar, for instance, hadendeavored to keep up the market; but they had soon recognized thefutility of their efforts, and then they had bravely commenceddoing like the rest.

  The next day was Sunday. From the early morning, it was reported,with the most circumstantial details, that the Baron de Thallerhad been arrested.

  But in the evening this had been contradicted by people who hadgone to the races, and who had met there Mme. de Thaller and herdaughter, more brilliant than ever, very lively, and very talkative.To the persons who went to speak to them,

  "My husband was unable to come," said the baroness. "He is busywith two of his clerks, looking over that poor Favoral's accounts.It seems that they are in the most inconceivable confusion. Whowould ever have thought such a thing of a man who lived on bread andnuts? But he operated at the bourse; and he had organized, under afalse name, a sort of bank, in which he has very foolishly sunklarge sums of money."

  And with a smile, as if all danger had been luckily averted,

  "Fortunately," she added, "the damage is not as great as has beenreported, and this time, again, we shall get off with a good fright."

  But the speeches of the baroness were hardly sufficient to quietthe anxiety of the people who felt in their coat-pockets theworthless certificates of Mutual Credit stock.

  And the next day, Monday, as early as eight o'clock, they began toarrive in crowds to demand of M. de Thaller some sort of anexplanation.

  They were there, at least a hundred, huddled together in thevestibule, on the stairs, and on the first landing, a prey to themost painful emotion and the most violent excitement; for they hadbeen refused admittance.

  To all those who insisted upon going in, a tall servant in livery,standing before the door, replied invariably, "The office is notopen, M. de Thaller has not yet come."

  Whereupon they uttered such terrible threats and such loudimprecations, that the frightened concierge had run, and hid himselfat the very bottom of his lodge.

  No one can imagine to what epileptic contortions the loss of moneycan drive an assemblage of men, who has not seen a meeting ofshareholders on the morrow of a great disaster, with their clinchedfists, their convulsed faces, their glaring eyes, and foaming lips.

  They felt indignant at what had once been their delight. They laidthe blame of their ruin upon the splendor of the house, thesumptuousness of the stairs, the candelabras of the vestibule, thecarpets, the chairs, every thing.

  "And it is our money too," they cried, "that has paid for all that!"

  Standing upon a bench, a little short man was exciting transportsof indignation by describing the magnificence of the Baron deThaller's residence, where he had once had some dealings.

  He had counted five carriages in the carriage-house, fifteen horsesin the stables, and Heaven knows how many servants.

  He had never been inside the apartments, but he had visited thekitchen; and he declared that he had been dazzled by the numberand brightness of the saucepans, ranged in order of size overthe furnace.

  Gathered in a group under the vestibule, the most sensible deploredtheir rash confidence.

  "That's the way," concluded one, "with all these adventurous affairs."

  "That's a fact. There's nothing, after all, like government bonds."

  "Or a first mortgage on good property, with subrogation of the wife'srights."

  But what exasperated them all was not to be admitted to the presenceof M. de Thaller, and to see that servant mounting guard beforethe door.

  "What impudence," they growled, "to leave us on the stairs!--we whoare the masters, after all."

  "Who knows where M. de Thaller may be?"

  "He is hiding, of course."

  "No matter: I will see him," clamored a big fat man, with abrick-colored face, "if I shouldn't stir from here for a week."

  "You'll see nothing at all," giggled his neighbor. "Do you supposethey don't have back-stairs and private entrances in this infernalshop?"

  "Ah! if I believed any thing of the kind," exclaimed the big manin a voice trembling with passion. "I'd soon break in some of thesedoors: it isn't so hard, after all."

  Already he was gazing at the servant with an alarming air, when anold gentleman with a discreet look, stepped up to him, and inquired,

  "Excuse me, sir: how many shares have you?"

  "Three," answered the man with the brick-colored face.

  The other sighed.

  "I have two hundred and fifty," he said. "That's why, being atleast as interested as yourself in not losing every thing, I beg ofyou to indulge in no violent proceedings."

  There was no need of further speaking.

  The door which the servant was guarding flew open. A clerk appeared,and made sign that he wished to speak.

  "Gentlemen," he began, "M. de Thaller has just come; but he is justnow engaged with the examining judge."

  Shouts having drowned his voice, he withdrew precipitately.

  "If the law gets its finger in," murmured the discreet gentleman,"good-by!"

  "That's a fact," said another. "But we will have the preciousadvantage of hearing that dear baron condemned to one year'simprisonment, and a fine of fifty francs. That's the regular rate.He wouldn't get off so cheap, if he had stolen a loaf of bread froma baker."

  "Do you believe that story about the judge?" interrupted rudely thebig man.

  They had to believe it, when they saw him appear, followed by acommissary of police and a porter, carrying on his back a load ofbooks and papers. They stood aside to let them pass; but there wasno time to make any comments, as another clerk appeared immediatelywho said,

  "M. de Thaller is at your command, gentlemen. Please walk in."

  There was then a terrible jamming and pushing to see who would getfirst into the directors' room, which stood wide open.

  M. de Thaller was standing against the mantel-piece, neither palernor more excited than usual, but like a man who feels sure ofhimself and of his means of action. As soon as silence was restored,

  "First of all, gentlemen," he began, "I must tell you that the boardof directors is about to meet, and that a general meeting of thestockholders will be called."

  Not a murmur. As at the touch of a magician's wand, the dispositionsof the shareholders seemed to have changed.

  "I have nothing new to inform you of," he went on. "What happenedis a misfortune, but not a disaster. The thing to do was to savethe company; and I had first thought of calling for funds."

  "Well," said two or three timid voices, "If it was absolutelynecessary--"

  "But there is no need of it."

  "Ah, ah!"

  "And I can manage to carry every thing through by adding to ourreserve fund my own personal fortune."

  This time the hurrahs and the bravos drowned the voice.

  M. de Thaller received them like a man who deserves them, and,more slowly,

  "Honor commanded it," he continued. "I confess it, gentlemen, thewretch who has so basely deceived us had my entire confidence. Youwill understand my apparent blindness when you know with whatinfernal skill he managed."

  Loud imprecations burst on all sides against Vincent Favoral. Butthe president of the Mutual Credit proceeded,

  "For the present, all I have to ask of you is to keep cool, andcontinue to give me your confidence."

  "Yes, yes!"

  "The panic of night before last was but a stock-gambling manoeuvre,organized by rival establishments, who were in hopes of taking ourclients away from us. They will be disappointed, gentlemen. Wewill triumphantly demonstrate our soundness; and we shall come outof this trial more powerf
ul than ever."

  It was all over. M. de Thaller understood his business. Theyoffered him a vote of thanks. A smile was beaming upon the samefaces that were a moment before contracted with rage.

  One stockholder alone did not seem to share the general enthusiasm:he was no other than our old friend, M. Chapelain, the ex-lawyer.

  "That fellow, Thaller, is just capable of getting himself out ofthe scrape," he grumbled. "I must tell Maxence."