more applications sent in, and, before the next
day was over, the number of letters amounted
to something over a hundred and twenty.
To all of these I replied, naming a day and
an hour to see each individual, and, as I
said before, giving six applicants at a time
appointments together. Thus the work I cut
out for myself was by no means trifling, but in
doing it well there was a great object to be
gained, no less than that of being furnished
with funds which would enable me to carry out
my scheme of setting the BANK OF PATAGONIA
(LIMITED) on foot.

The first half dozen batches of applicants
for the secretaryship consisted of men who
would not answer my purpose in the very least.
There were young, middle-aged, and old
individuals amongst them, and not a few whose
testimonials were of the highest order. But
upon my putting to each one the question as to
his private means, they one and all declared
that of money they had none whatever. Of
course I only saw one applicant at a time in the
private office, the others remaining outside; and
I was, moreover, obliged to touch upon the question
of money with the greatest possible delicacy.
In fact, it was more by a series of hints
than by actual questions that I obtained the
knowledge I wanted. At last, however, I
managed to fall in with one individual who declared
himself able to help the "promotion" of
the company with some ready money, of which
he had a few hundreds at his disposal. This
gentleman was by no means equal in manners
or education to most of the others who were
trying to get the situation; nor were his testimonials
as good. He had served some years in
a government office, but had quarrelled with
his superiors, and had been obliged to leave in
consequence. He had a sheepish, and, at the
same time, a vulgar manner; nor could he write
English particularly well. However, he had
money, and it was money, above all things, that
I wanted. My bargain with this gentleman—
Mr. Edwin Smart—was as follows: I was to
secure to him, by a stamped undertaking, that
he was to have the post of secretary to the
"BANK OF PATAGONIA," at a salary of five
hundred pounds a year, which was to increase
a hundred a year for seven years, until it
reached the respectable sum of twelve hundred
pounds a year. When the "Articles of Association"
of the bank were drawn out, Mr. Smart's
name was to be inserted in them as secretary to
the bank, and it was to be expressly stipulated
that he was not to be turned out of his situation
(unless, of course, for fraud or very gross misconduct)
except by a meeting, at which not
less than three-fourths of the directors were to
be present, and of which meeting due notice
was to be given at least a clear month before it
took place. In the mean time, until the shares
were allotted, Mr. Smart bound himself to do
duty as my secretary whilst I was engaged in
getting up the company, and not to ask for
any remuneration until the bank was fairly
afloat. He was, moreover, to advance me five
hundred pounds in order to help the promotion
of the concern, and to "oblige" me by putting
his name to bills to the amount of one thousand
pounds more, for the same object. If
the concern went on, and if the directors proceeded
to allot the shares, the money which
Mr. Smart had advanced would be repaid to him
out of the very first deposits paid upon the
shares. But if not—if the company died a
natural death, and was never strong enough to
induce the public to part with their money—
then would Mr. Edwin Smart have no post of
secretary, nor could he hope to be reimbursed
what he had advanced. "I look on the
matter in this light," said Mr. Smart to me
one day; "if the company goes all right, I
shall have a situation of five hundred pounds
a year, which is to increase every twelve
months a hundred pounds. If it does not
go on to an allotment, it is true I shall lose
the five hundred pounds I have advanced,
but I think it is well worth while to risk five
hundred pounds cash for a salary of five hundred
pounds per annum." " But what of the
bills for one thousand pounds which you have
put your name to for me?" asked I. " Oh, as
to them," was the reply, " I will bolt before
they become due." I thought that whatever
other indifferent qualities Mr. Edwin Smart had,
he was at any rate plain-spoken enough, and
made no secret of his intentions.

The bills our future secretary had accepted for
my use were soon discounted, and thus with nearly
fifteen hundred pounds at our command, we were
able to set to work in earnest. Our company
being formed for the purpose of banking, and
such establishments not having fallen into such
disrepute as they are at present, we found not
much difficulty in filling up the list of directors.
It is true that we were not able to get
either very first-class men, nor perhaps the
best of the second-class City men. But of
second-rate second-class, and first-rate third-class
names, we had as many as we liked, and
many more than we ever intended to have had on
our board. Before a week was over, we had
selected a dozen or so good men, had chosen one
amongst them to be chairman, and I was busy
at work getting the articles of association and
the prospectus drawn out.

The work of a promoter ceases so soon as he
makes over the company to the gentlemen who
are named on the prospectus as its future directors;
therefore it is entirely his own fault if
that individual does not take good care of his
own interests. I had put down in the articles
of association that the day upon which the bank
proceeded to allot the shares, I was to receive
the sum of five thousand pounds for the trouble,
the expense, and the difficulty I had gone
through in getting up the company. But unless
there were applications enough for shares to
induce the directors to allot them, the company
would die still-born, and my five thousand pound
fee would not be forthcoming. It was, therefore,
plainly my interest to do all I could to induce
the public to apply for shares. As a