A Lost Lady

Niel meets Judge Pommeroy and Captain Forrester at the train station when they return to Sweet Water. Together with Mrs. Forrester, they all sit down to talk about the trip. Captain Forrester announces to his wife that he is now poor, with only the house and his pension to leave her after his death. Mrs. Forrester turns pale but says that they will manage.

Judge Pommeroy says that Captain Forrester acted admirably, liquidating his assets to pay the depositors of the failed bank in Denver. Captain Forrester looks outside the window, commenting that it is good that Mrs. Forrester watered the roses, then goes to lie down.

Judge Pommeroy explains that the bank depositors were all working-class men who had put their money into the bank because they trusted Captain Forrester. The other directors were all young businessmen who refused to put up the cash to make good on the bank deposits. Instead, “they claimed that the bank was insolvent, not through unwise investments or mismanagement, but because of a nation-wide financial panic, a shrinking in values that no one could have foreseen” (50). These men only offered 50 cents on the dollar to the depositors.