He carried with him a satchel full of documents. Without much difficulty he negotiated a further loan on his ranch property. He could easily have raised the amount, and more, in Arguello, but as Mills had so strongly advised against this procedure, the Colonel wished to spare the little banker's feelings. With the proceeds he paid the temporary loan, which, it will be remembered, he had passed over to Don Vincente. This left him exactly where he was before. At this juncture he recalled Mills's advice as to selling something and cleaning up the hotel indebtedness. The Colonel had nothing he particularly wanted to sell—except perhaps his stock in the First National Bank. He took this to a broker, who disposed of it inside of two days. The money more than sufficed to put the hotel in running order again. Everything was all right again; except that the Colonel became a little furtive whenever Oliver Mills hove in sight. Of course there was no reason for it. Bank stock is not a paying investment unless a man is in active business and constantly using all a bank's functions. To a ranchman like the Colonel its possession is sheer rank sentiment when another use can be found for the money. It was certainly his money to do what he pleased with. The Colonel rehearsed these and other arguments to himself, and agreed with himself on all of them. Nevertheless a vague feeling of guilt troubled him. The Colonel was always doing things that brought that vague feeling of guilt.
