Originally, they were supposed to decide within six weeks. However, months and months had passed, and they had not passed any judgment. The senators were probably hoping that the more time that passed without a definite decision, the more likely it was that shareholders would finally lose patience and put a painful end to the company.
The shareholders of the company, however, were made from hardier material. Nothing could shake their faith in the project. It was not the shareholders but rather the senators who lost their patience. Finally, the heat they got from the public became too much, and they were forced to give a clear answer.
Visible in extra-bold letters on the front page of every newspaper in the nation, the decision read: “After careful consideration and examination of all relevant circumstances, we have to declare that the project for which the Atlantic-Pacific Transit Corporation is requesting permission to issue a new series of shares, is a very daring, very difficult, and almost impracticable one. The project will remain a considerable risk for shareholders until its completion. Therefore, the shareholders themselves have to decide whether they want to assume the risk. The examination of the financial stability of the company did not result in anything for now that would give rise to worries for shareholders.”
Aslan studied the statement. “Amy,” she said then, “let’s say we get stuck on the long stretch of desert between Galveston and Los Angeles and our funds dry out. In that case, the members of the Senate committee will stand there with a paternalistic grin in front of the public. They will hold up their hands, which they have now officially washed of the affair.”
“I don’t understand, ma’am,” said Amy.
“It’s simple, Amy. They are washing their hands in childish innocence, the gentlemen of the Senate. Their decision reads: ‘did not result in anything for now.’ The emphasis is on: ‘for now.’ The honorable gentlemen of the Senate are not responsible for anything that might happen in the future. I have to say that I wouldn’t have thought it possible that the gentlemen of the Senate would know how to keep themselves far enough away from a fire in case it might burn too bright.”
“But ma’am, it seems that the gentlemen of the Senate do not fear fire.”
“They don’t fear fire?”
“Apparently not, ma’am. For two weeks now, three honorable gentlemen of the Senate, Drake, Clifford, and Shearer, each have a check for two hundred thousand dollars in our safe as guarantee for their requested shares of the new series.”
“And you are surprised by that, Amy?” asked Aslan. “What surprises me is that these three most honorable gentlemen, who tortured me so pitilessly, didn’t submit at least half a million dollars. They would have that kind of money. These three gentlemen are the main shareholders of the Knutsen Kelthy Crane Jorgson Shipping Company, Inc., Ltd., AGSA. Last year it paid seventeen and one-eighth percent dividends, and that’s after deduction of income tax.”
Also by B. Traven
The Death Ship
The Cotton Pickers
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Bridge in the Jungle
The White Rose
The Carreta
Government
March to the Monteria
Trozas
The Rebellion of the Hanged
General from the Jungle
Macario
A Note About the Author
B. Traven (1882–1969) was a pen name of one of the most enigmatic writers of the twentieth century. The life and work of the author, whose other aliases include Hal Croves, Traven Torsvan, and Ret Marut, has been called “the greatest literary mystery of the twentieth century.” Of German descent and Mexican nationality, he has sold more than thirty million books, in more than thirty languages. Films of his work include The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which won three Oscars; Macario, the first Mexican film to be nominated for an Oscar; and The Death Ship, a cult classic in Germany. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Also by B. Traven
A Note About the Author
Copyright
120 Broadway, New York 10271
Copyright © 1959 by R. E. Luján
Translation copyright © 2020 by M. E. Montes de Oca Luján de Heyman and Irene Pomar Montes de Oca
All rights reserved
Originally published in German in 1960 by Verlag Kurt Desch, Germany
English translation published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
First e-book edition, 2020
Cover design by Alex Merto
Cover image: Mabelin Santos / Alamy Stock Photo
E-book ISBN: 978-0-374-72213-5
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eISBN 9780374722135
First eBook edition: 2020