standing in front of his shop, and the young man noted that he was

wearing a large and beautiful Masonic emblem. After going on a whole

block, apparently lost in thought, the young man turned back, stepped

up to the pawnbroker, and addressed him: "I see you're wearing a

Masonic emblem. I'm a Freemason too. It happens that I'm desperately in

need of $25 just now. I shall be able to repay it within ten days. You

don't know me; but I wonder whether the fact that you are a Freemason

and that I am a Freemason is sufficient to induce you to lend me the

money on my personal note."

The pawnbroker mentally appraised the young man, who was

clean-cut, neat and well-dressed. After a moments thought, he agreed

to make the loan on the strength of the young man being a Freemason.

Within a few days the young man repaid the loan as agreed and that

ended the transaction.

About four months later the young man was in a Lodge receiving

the Entered Apprentice Degree; he had not really been a Mason when he

borrowed the $25. After he had been admitted for the second section of

the degree, the young man looked across the Lodge room and saw the

pawnbroker from whom he had borrowed the $25. His face turned crimson

and he became nervous and jittery. He wondered whether he had been

recognized by the pawnbroker. Apparently not, so he planned at the

first opportunity to leave the Lodge room and avoid his benefactor. As

soon as the Lodge was closed he moved quickly for the door, but the

pawnbroker had recognized the young man, headed him off and, to the

young man's astonishment, approached him and greeted him with a smile

and outstretched hand.

"Well, I see you weren't a Freemason after all when you

borrowed that $25," the pawnbroker commented.

The blood rushed to the young man's face as he stammered, "No,

I wasn't, but I wish you'd let me explain. I had always heard that

Freemasons were charitable and ready to aid a Brother in distress. When

I passed your shop that day I didn't need that $25. I had plenty of

money in my wallet, but when I saw the Masonic emblem you were wearing,

I decided to find out whether the things I'd heard about Freemasonry

were true. You let me have the money on the strength of my being a

Freemason, so I concluded that what I had heard about Masons was true,

that they are charitable, that they do aid Brethren in distress. That

made such a deep impression on me that I presented my petition to this

Lodge and here I am. I trust that with this explanation you will

forgive me for having lied to you."

The pawnbroker responded, "Don't let that worry you too much. I

wasn't a Freemason when I let you have the money. I had no business

wearing the Masonic emblem you saw. Another man had just borrowed some

money on it, and it was so pretty that I put it on my lapel for a few

minutes. I took it off the moment you left. I didn't want anyone else

borrowing money on the strength of my being a Freemason. When you asked

for that $25, I remembered what I had heard about Masons, that they

were honest, upright, and cared for their obligations promptly. It

seemed to me that $25 wouldn't be too much to lose to learn if what I'd

heard was really true, so I lent you the money and you repaid it

exactly as you said you would. That convinced me that what I'd heard

about Masons was true so I presented my petition to this Lodge. I was

the candidate just ahead of you."

From the January 1977 New Mexico Freemason