"
"Well," said the President, with a tolerant smile, "the colonel,
unhappily for the country, is no true patriot. But he is powerful;
he is rich; he is, under myself alone, in command of the army. And,
moreover, I believe he stands well with the signorina. The situation,
in fact, is desperate. I must have money, Mr. Martin. Will your
directors make me a new loan?"
I knew very well the fate that would attend any such application.
The directors were already decidedly uneasy about their first loan;
shareholders had asked awkward questions, and the chairman had found
no small difficulty in showing that the investment was likely to prove
either safe or remunerative. Again, only a fortnight before, the
Government had made a formal application to me on the same subject. I
cabled the directors, and received a prompt reply in the single word
"Tootsums," which in our code meant, "Must absolutely and finally
decline to entertain any applications." I communicated the contents
of the cable to Senor Don Antonio de la Casabianca, the Minister
of Finance, who had, of course, communicated them in turn to the
President.
I ventured to remind his Excellency of these facts.
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