Chapter 11: Jason

Jase crossed the street to the bank, barely getting out of the way of a team pulling a large farm wagon and the red faced driver at a brisk trot. Limping heavily, Jase entered the bank and walked to a teller cage.

"Well howdy do there mister, I'm glad to see you up and about after that fracas yesterday. How can I help you now, sir?"

Jase replied, "I would like to talk to the manager, please."

"That would be Mr. Goldspur, R. J. that is. One Moment and I'll tell him you want to see him."

The teller returned, followed by an affable fellow of about fifty or so, decked out in a black suit, white shirt with string tie, and highly polished boots. He stood by the entrance gate he was opening and said, "Hello, young man, my name is R. J. Goldspur, but I go by just 'R. J.' to friends and business associates. How may I help you today?"

Jase answered, "I have some business to discuss, if you don't mind."

"No, not at all," replied R. J., "Just you come right this way to my office and we can sit down with some coffee. I need to add my personal thanks for your actions yesterday, young man."

Jase's face reddened some as he followed R. J. to his office.

After they were seated with coffee, R. J. said, "I would like to have introduced you to the young teller from the bank here who used the shotgun yesterday, but he's home sick. Seeing that man he shot nearly cut in two really got to him. Now, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, answered Jase, "I have a large sum of money in these saddle bags and I would like to put it in the bank. It's too much to be carrying around or to leave in my hotel room."

R. J. then asked, "How large a sum are you talking about and what do you mean by, 'put it in the bank'? Do you mean deposit it or invest it?"

Jase replied, "I'm talking about $6,500 and I thought about just depositing it until I see how long I'm going to be, getting over the wounds I got yesterday. What did you mean about investing and in what?"

R. J. said, "There are a number of building projects and other opportunities here in town as the city fathers attempt to rebuild Chattanooga's war damage."

"Such as?" asked Jase.

"Well," drawled R. J., I know of a big project to build a very large hotel with attached saloon and gambling hall complex that's in need of additional financial backing. My bank here has invested $10,000 in loans and several other backers have contributed money for shares in the venture."

"I never really thought about investing, and I don't live here. I'll be moving on as soon as I heal up. What good would my investment do me then.?"

R. J. replied, "You don't have to live here. If you own shares of stock, purchased with your investment, your return is the interest those shares earn each year and the value of the shares if you ever decide to sell them. All you need is a permanent address to which the interest checks can be sent and where you can be contacted on any business matters connected to ownership of the shares, such as notice of a stockholders meeting. How does that sound to you?"

Jase answered, "It sounds pretty good to me, but the catch is the permanent address. For now and the foreseeable future, I'm footloose and fancy free with a constantly changing or nonexistent address. Since home was in the path of Sherman's March to Savannah, I don't expect to find much there when I finally get back."

R. J. then said, "I think we can solve that problem. You pick a bank and an advisor in that bank, home town or not, that you can contact from time to time either in person or by telegraph and give him my name and bank. Then I can keep him up to date and he can keep you up to date on your business affairs."

Jase replied, "That sounds good to me."

From his saddlebags, Jase removed the money and said, "I want to invest six thousand in this venture, put three hundred in a cash account, and keep two hundred dollars with me."

"Very good," said R. J., "I'll have the necessary papers drawn up today and you can come back tomorrow to sign them. I'll put the sixty three hundred into your cash account until the papers are ready to sign."

Jase said, "That sounds fine to me."

They both rose and shook hands as Jase said, "I have a couple of things left to do before I get off this leg and give it some more rest. I'll see you tomorrow. What time?"

R. J. said, "Let's make it for three in the afternoon."

"That's fine with me," said Jase as R. J. escorted him back out to the bank lobby.

Jase limped his way along the boardwalk, with several stops to rest, to Doc Carlson's office and entered.

"Good morning, Jase, how do you feel after a night's rest?"

"Much better, especially after that breakfast Sally brought over! She said I needed to stop by today to have the wounds looked at and the dressings changed."

"And, I'd say, judging by what I what I saw of you getting here, you should probably consider using a crutch for a day or two," said the Doc. "Well Jase, come on back to the surgery and I'll have a look at those wounds. If you have the usual one piece long johns on, you will have to strip most of the way out of them for me to do my job."

Doc draped Jase's groin for the sake of modesty and then cut away the bandaging. After checking the wounds and rubbing on salve, he called out, "You can come in now, Sally, and finish with the dressings and bandages."

Jase gasped out, "DOC! I'm nearly naked here!"
As she entered the surgery, Sally answered for her father, "Your modesty is preserved. Anyway, I have nursed and sponge bathed men before--wounded soldiers in the late war. So just you lie still or you'll uncover yourself in your agitation."

Jase mumbled under his breath, "It's no wonder you have most of the town scandalized!"

A few minutes later, Sally said, "There, all done. I'll step out and you can get dressed. But don't you run off, I want to talk to you first."

Jase quickly dressed, still embarrassed and chagrined about Sally working on him in his near naked state. As Jase stepped through the door back into Doc's office, he nearly ran straight into Sally, standing before him, blocking his path.

"You sure weren't taking any chances on me sneaking off, were you Sally?"

Sally replied, "No, I wasn't. Here's the crutch dad suggested. Use it, please, your leg needs to be treated with care yet. Now about meals. Lunch is ready if you care to stay. But I definitely will expect you for supper at six, no excuses! Our living quarters are upstairs over the office and surgery."

"I have errands to do yet for now, but I will be back for supper," said Jase as he tried to maneuver around Sally.

Before he could manage to get around her, Sally reached up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "See that you do!" she said.

The last week of November arrived to find Jase in increasing pain from his leg. The pain had never really left and had been growing worse for two weeks. Three days ago, swelling started and the area around the wound, which had always had a red ring around it, began to burn and turn red and angry looking over a larger area.

That day, as Jase looked at his reflection in the mirror in his room with his glassy eyes, accompanied by his hot, sweaty feelings, he was quite sure he was developing a fever. And to top it all off, Sally had been showing increasingly aggressive signs of romantic interest at their nightly suppers.

Jase thought about his situation. "Am I ok? What;s wrong with my leg? What does Sally really want? What do I want? What is my future--a horse rancher? A gunslinger or peace officer? A professional gambler? Do I want Sally to be a part of this? How do I really feel about her?"

Jase had no answers at that moment. But he did know that Doc had to look at his leg wound. Something was definitely wrong there. The walk to the street and to the Doc's office was long and difficult. Jase's leg was throbbing by the time he got there. Doc looked up as Jase entered and knew immediately something was wrong.

"Come straight back to the surgery, Jase, you don't look too good! Strip down, Jase, and let me get a look."

A few minutes later, Doc said, "Jase, your chest wound is nearly healed. But your leg wound is infected. I think I can cure it, but the odds aren't good."

The next thing Jase knew was that he woke up on the cot in Doc's surgery and the late afternoon sun was nearly down.

"What happened?" asked Jase.