one.”
The cabbie snorted.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. With the money you’ve
got?”
144 Robert Asprin
“It may seem like a lot, but nearly all of it is already
committed to you and the hotel.”
The cab swerved dangerously as Edvick turned in his seat
to stare at me.
“You mean that’s all the money you have? You’re carry-
ing your whole bankroll?”
As upset as I was, that thought made me laugh.
“Not hardly,” I said. “The trouble is that most of my
money is back on Deva. I only brought some of it along
for pocket expenses. Unfortunately I badly underestimated
what the prices would be like here, so I have to keep an
eye on my expenses.”
“Oh, that’s no problem,” the cabbie retorted, turning
his attention to the road again. “Just open a line of credit
here.”
“Do what?”
‘ ‘Talk to a bank and borrow what you need against your
assets. That’s how I came up with the money for this cab
. .-. not to mention my other ventures. Sheese! If everybody
tried to operate on a cash basis, it would ruin the dimension’s
economy!”
“I don’t know,” I hesitated. “Nobody on this dimension
really knows me. Do you really think a bank would be
willing to trust me with a loan?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Edvick shrugged.
“Tell you what . . . there’s a branch of my bank not far
from here. Why don’t you pop in and talk to them. You
might be surprised.”
The bank itself was not particularly imposing; a medium-
sized storefront with a row of teller windows and a few
scattered desks. Some doors in the back wall presumably
led to offices and the vault, but they were painted assorted