"Banks be damned!" growled Jake. "I ain't got no faith in banks,--no siree. First stake I made went into a bank, Goodall-Towser Trust Co. of 'Frisco. 'Four per cent interest guaranteed,' it said on the front of the bank book they gave me. That book was all they ever gave me; all I ever saw of my five thousand bucks. I thought because it said 'Trust' on the window, it was right as rain. I ain't trustin' 'Trust' any more. "I raised Cain in that Trust outfit. Started shootin' up. Didn't kill anything, but got three months in the coop. Lost my five thousand plunks and got three months in the pen, all because I put my dough in the bank. "Banks be damned, George. Not for mine,--no siree." Jake puffed his pipe reflectively, after his long tirade. "That's all very well, but there are good banks nowadays and good Trust Companies, too, although I prefer regular chartered banks every time. Those banks are practically guaranteed by the country and the wealthiest men in Canada use them. Why!--Mr. Horsfal has thousands in the Commercial Bank of Canada now. Here is the bank book,--see for yourself! I send in a deposit every week for him." Jake was impressed, but not unduly. He suddenly switched. "Say, George,--who told you I had any dough?" "Oh! I knew you had, Jake. Everybody in Golden Crescent knows. But, to be honest, the minister told me,--in the hope that I would be able to induce you to place it in safety somewhere." Jake became confident, a most unusual condition for him. "Well, George,--I can trust you,--you're straight. I got something near ten thousand bucks in that brass chest. I don't need it, but still I ain't givin' it away. I had to grub damned hard to get it. It's kind o' good to know you ain't ever likely to be a candidate for some Old Men's Home." "It is indeed," I replied, "and I admire you for having saved so much. But won't you put it into the bank, where it is absolutely safe for you? It is a positive temptation to some men, lying around here. "The bank will give you a receipt for the money; you can draw on it when you wish and it will be earning three per cent or three hundred dollars a year for you all the time it is there." He pondered for a while, then he dismissed the subject. "No! Guess I'll keep it by me. No more banks for mine. I ain't so strong as I used to be and I guess three months in the coop would just about make me cash in. I ain't takin' no more chances." Jake's method of reasoning was amusing. After all, it was no affair of mine and, now that I had unburdened myself, I felt conscience clear. As I rose to leave, he started to talk again. "George,--guess you'll think I'm batty,--but I'm goin' to cut out the booze." "You are!" I exclaimed in astonishment. "Ya! Guess maybe you think I'll make a hell of a saint, but I ain't goin' to try to be no saint; just goin' to cut out the booze, that's all." "What has given you this notion?" I could not help inquiring.