“好。”稽核说，又转过身去找一般存户的记账员，他已经把外地银行的结账单和对账单准备好了。一切都没有问题。接着是存款簿的存根。草草地翻了一阵子。好。请把透支清单拿来。多谢。哼——唔。没有签署的票据。好。
Then came the cashiers turn， and easy-going Mr. Edlinger rubbed his nose and polished his glasses nervously under the quick fire of questions concerning the circulationcirculation n.循环， 流通， 发行额， undivided profits， bank real estate， and stock ownership.
之后轮到了襄理，平时悠闲的埃德林格先生在他一连串有关周转、未分的红利、银行房地产和股权的问题之下，急得直摸鼻子，擦眼镜。
Presently Nettlewick was aware of a big man towering above him at his elbow—a man sixty years of age， rugged and hale， with a rough， grizzled beard， a mass of gray hair， and a pair of penetrating blue eyes that confronted the formidableformidableadj.强大的， 令人敬畏的， 可怕的， 艰难的 glasses of the examiner without a flicker.
内特尔威克忽然发觉一个高大的人站到了身边——一个年过六十，粗犷、强壮的老头儿，长着乱蓬蓬的灰白胡子和头发，一双锐利的蓝眼睛即使在稽核那咄咄逼人的眼镜前都不畏缩。
“Er—Major Kingman， our president—er—Mr. Nettlewick.” said the cashier.
“呃——这位是金曼少校，我们的总经理——呃——这位是内特尔威克先生。”襄理介绍说。
Two men of very different types shook hands. One was a finished product of the world of straight lines， conventional methods， and formal affairs. The other was something freer， wider， and nearer to nature. Tom Kingman had not been cut to any pattern. He had been muledriver， cowboy， ranger， soldier， sheriff， prospector， and cattleman. Now， when he was bank president， his old comrades from the prairies， of the saddle， tent， and trail found no change in him. He had made his fortune when Texas cattle were at the high tide of value， and had organized the First National Bank of San Rosario. In spite of his largeness of heart and sometimes unwise generosity toward his old friends， the bank had prosperedprosperv.成功， 兴隆， 昌盛， （指上帝）使成功， 使昌隆， 繁荣， for Major Tom Kingman knew men as well as he knew cattle. Of late years the cattle business had known a depression， and the majors bank was one of the few whose losses had not been great.
两个类型截然不同的人握手了。一个是拘泥古板，墨守成规，公事公办的世界的标准产物；另一个却比较自由豪放，更接近自然。汤姆·金曼没有受到习俗的任何影响。他当过骡夫、牧人、牧场主、士兵、警官、淘金者和牛贩子。如今他当上了银行总经理，那些草原上牧牛的老伙伴却发现他并没有变化。得克萨斯牛生意最兴旺的时候，他发了财，在圣罗萨里奥开了第一国民银行。尽管他心胸开阔，有时对老朋友慷慨得不够精明，银行业务仍旧蒸蒸日上，因为汤姆·金曼少校非但了解牛，也了解人。 近来牛生意疲软，少校的银行是少数几家损失不大的银行之一。
“And now，” said the examiner， briskly， pulling out his watch， “the last thing is the loans. We will take them up now， if you please.”
“嗯，”稽核掏出怀表，精神十足地说，“最后要查的是贷款。我们现在就看吧，对不起。”
He had gone through the First National at almost recordbreaking speed—but thoroughly， as he did everything. The running order of the bank was smooth and clean， and that had facilitated his work. There was but one other bank in the town. He received from the Government a fee of twentyfive dollars for each bank that he examined. He should be able to go over those loans and discountsdiscountn.折扣 in half an hour. If so， he could examine the other bank immediately afterward， and catch the 11∶45， the only other train that day in the direction he was working. Otherwise， he would have to spend the night and Sunday in this uninteresting Western town. That was why Mr. Nettlewick was rushing matters.
他检查第一国民银行的速度几乎可以打破纪录——但是像他做任何工作一样，检查得十分彻底。银行的日常工作很有秩序，因而也减轻了他的工作。镇上只剩下另一家银行。他每检查一家银行，便可以向政府领取二十五元。他在半小时内可以解决那些贷款和贴现。那么接下去就可以立刻去检查另一家银行，赶上十一点四十五分的火车到他要去工作的地方，当天只有那一班火车。不然的话，他不得不在这个枯燥的西部小镇过一夜和一个星期天。因此，内特尔威克先生想赶快了事。
“come with me， sir，” said Major Kingman， in his deep voice， that united the Southern drawldrawl v.懒洋洋地说， 做作而慢慢地说 n.懒洋洋的说话态度 with the rhythmic twang of the West； “We will go over them together. Nobody in the bank knows those notes as I do. Some of em are a little wobbly on their legs， and some are mavericksmaverick n.没打烙印的动物 vi.闹独立的人 without extra many brands on their backs， but theyll most all pay out at the roundup.”
“跟我来，先生，”金曼少校说，他那深沉的声音夹杂着南方的拖长的调子和西部的有节奏的界音；“我们一起来看吧。银行里谁都不如我更清楚那些票据。有些还没站稳，有些背上还没有烙印，不过兜捕起来时，绝大多数是靠得住的。”
The two sat down at the presidents desk. First， the examiner went through the notes at lightning speed， and added up their total， finding it to agree with the amount of loans carried on the book of daily balances. Next， he took up the larger loans， inquiring scrupulously into the condition of their endorsersendorsern.背书人， 转让人 or securities. The new examiners mind seemed to course and turn and make unexpected dashes hither and thither like a bloodhoundbloodhoundn.一种大侦探犬 seeking a trail. Finally he pushed aside all the notes except a few， which he arranged in a neat pile before him， and began a dry， formal little speech.
他们两个在总经理的桌子旁边坐下。稽核先以闪电般的速度把那些票据翻了一遍，加了总数，发现完全符合统计表上的贷款数字。然后他挑出几笔数额较大的贷款，仔细询问有关担保人和担保品的情况。新稽核的心思像是一条追踪嗅迹的纯种猎犬，不断地追索搜寻，并且时常出乎意外地扑上去。最后，他把票据推在一边，挑了几张，整整齐齐地放在自己面前，一本正经地说了一番枯燥乏味的话。
“I find， sir， the condition of your bank to be very good， considering the poor crops and the depression in the cattle interests of your state. The clerical work seems to be done accurately and punctually. Your pastdue paper is moderate in amount， and promises only a small loss. I would recommend the calling in of your large loans， and the making of only sixty and ninety day or call loans until general business revives. And now， there is one thing more， and I will have finished with the bank. Here are six notes aggregating something like 40，000. They are secured， according to their faces， by various stocks， bonds， shares， etc. to the value of 70，000. Those securities are missing from the notes to which they should be attached. I suppose you have them in the safe or vault. You will permit me to examine them.”
“先生，你们州里牛生意虽然疲软衰退，我发现你的银行的情况非常好。账务工作似乎做得很准确及时。过期未收的款项很少，即使坏账，损失也不大。我建议你收回大笔贷款，以后贷款期限最好不超过六十天或九十天，或者做短期拆借，随时可以收回，等到一般市面好转后再说。现在还有一件事，解决后我的检查就结束了。这里有六张票据，总额是四万元。照上面的说明看来，它们有价值七万元的证券、公债、股票等作为担保．这些担保品应该附在票据一起，但是不在。我想你大概把它们存在保险库或者保险箱里了。请允许我检查一下。”
Major Toms lightblue eyes turned unflinchingly toward the examiner.
汤姆少校的浅蓝色的眼睛毫不畏惧地转向稽核。