Keith ran it over. It amounted to something like eleven thousand dollars.

"What do you want done about it?" he asked,

"I want you to collect the money for me."

But Keith, had recollected something.

"Just wait a minute, please," he begged, and darted across the hall to a
friend's office, returning after a moment with a file of legislative
reports. "I thought I'd heard something about it; here it is. The State
Legislature has voted an issue of 10 per cent. bonds to take up the scrip."

"I don't understand," said Doctor Jones.

"Why, you take your scrip to the proper official and exchange it for an
equal value of State bonds."

"But what good does that do me?" cried Jones excitedly. "It doesn't get me
my money. They don't guarantee I can sell the bonds at par, do they? And
answer me this: isn't it just a scheme to cheat me of my interest? As I
understand it, instead of 3 per cent. a month I'm to get 10 per cent. a
year?"

"That's the effect," corroborated Keith.

"Well, I don't want bonds, I want money, as is my due."

"Wait a minute," said Keith. He read the report again slowly. "This says