Never having seen such a book before, he was naturally anxious to see what rating his concern had.

When he read that the Keystone Bridge Works were "BC," which meant "Bad Credit," it was with difficulty he was restrained from going to see our lawyers to have a suit brought against the publishers.

Tom, however, explained to him that the Keystone Bridge Works were in bad credit because they never borrowed anything, and he was pacified.

No debt was one of the Colonel's hobbies.

Once, when I was leaving for Europe, when many firms were hard up and some failing around us, he said to me: "The sheriff can't get us when you are gone if I don't sign any notes, can he ?" "No," I said, "he can't." "All right, we'll be here when you come back." Talking of the Colonel reminds me of another unusual character with whom we were brought in contact in these bridge-building days.