My term of service on this golden height covered only the brief space of three months, and was divided into two parts. At first I was quietly employed in an effort to find out the real condition of the bank and its numerous branches. This was no easy task. On paper, and from the representations of its management, its assets amounted to three millions of dollars, and its liabilities were about equal to its assets. With such a showing I was encouraged in the belief that by curtailing the expenses, and doing away with non-paying branches, we could be carried safely through the financial distress then upon the country. So confident was I of this, that, in order to meet what was said to be a temporary emergency, I loaned the bank ten thousand dollars of my own money, to be held by it until it could realize on a part of its abundant securities.[29] One wonders how the trustees ever managed to pay back that loan before the final crash. But they did pay it. Gradually I discovered that the bank had, through dishonest agents, sustained heavy losses in the South.... I was, six weeks after my election as president, convinced that the bank was no longer a safe custodian of the hard earnings of my confiding people. Douglass’ next move probably made bad matters worse. He reported to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance that the federal assets of the bank were gone. A commission was appointed to take over the bank, and its doors were closed. Not wishing to take any advantage of the other depositors, Douglass left his money to be divided with the assets among the creditors of the bank. In time--a long time--the larger part of the depositors received most of their money. But it was upon the head of the great Frederick Douglass that the wrath and the condemnation descended. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN “_If slavery could not kill us, liberty won’t_” Seneca Falls’ Union Woman’s Suffrage Society hated to lose one of its most faithful and ardent members, but the manner of her leaving was cause for much rejoicing. _A Civil Service position in Washington! My goodness, what a break!_ “It’s not a break.” Miss Dean, secretary of the society, spoke indignantly. “Helen Pitts has passed the examination, and she is taking her well-earned place in the ranks of government workers.” “Sure,” Matilda Hooker teased, “but isn’t Susan B. Anthony wearing herself out all over the place just so women can have such rights? This is a significant step, and I say we women in Seneca can be proud of Helen Pitts.” “Hear! Hear!” they said. Then Helen Pitts came in, her face flushed, and after a little excited chatter the meeting was called to order. It was true that Helen had taken the fall Civil Service examination by way of a “declaration of independence.” When she presented herself at the post-office they had eyed her with disapproval.