day-book, cash-book, waste-book and ledger,
seemed all comprised in a gigantic pocket-
book, which he carried in the breast of his
coat. Yet this man was well known to be
very rich. He had respectable current
accounts in two good City banks, and held many
shares in first-rate joint-stock companies. From
the time he arrived at the Eastern Coffee-house
in the morning, until he left it in the evening,
he was giving some person or other an interview,
and there were always two or three more
individuals waiting to speak to him. When I
have added that although he professed to be a
Jew, Mr. Steinmetz worked as hard as any
Gentile upon his Sabbath-day; that he lived at
Brixton in lodgings which cost him seven
shillings a week; that he passed the Sunday in
lamenting over not being able to do any business;
that his god was Mammon; and his real
occupation that of a discounter—i think I have
said all that need be said of his history.

Mr. Steinmetz at once asked to see the bill,
asked me about myself and the acceptor, and
told me to call next day, when he would give me
a decisive answer, "yes or no."

Twenty-four hours after my first interview
with Mr. Steinmetz, I was once more at the
Eastern Coffee-house. Mr. Steinmetz was
punctual to his appointment, and came forward
to meet me. He said he never "looked" at
bills for such small amounts as fifty pounds, but
would introduce me to a friend who might be
induced to do so. "The question is, Mr.
Weston," he said, addressing me, "what will
you lose?" I could not understand what he
meant; and, seeing I was all abroad as to his
slang, he explained that he wished to know
what amount of discount I would pay.

I replied, that I was willing to pay anything
in reason, adding—like a greenhorn as I was—
that I was much in want of money, and would not
mind paying a little more than usual, provided
the business could be carried through at once.
It struck me, that considering Mr. Steinmetz
"never looked" at bills for such small amounts
as fifty pounds, he appeared remarkably anxious
to know how much I was willing to pay for the
accommodation. This, however (so I reasoned
to myself) might be owing to his wishing to
serve the friend to whom I was to be introduced.

In a few minutes Mr. Steinmetz's friend
appeared, and was introduced to me by the
name of Fanst. Mr. Fanst, in appearance,
bore the same relation to Mr. Steinmetz that a
corporal does to a sergeant, or a deacon to a
priest. Mr. Fanst was evidently from Hamburg,
was of decidedly Israelite caste of countenance,
and imitated English dress and manners.

Mr. Fanst at once commenced the business
before us, by asking me the same question as
Mr. Steiumetz had, "What I would lose" in
the transaction. Now, as the present was, I
fear, by no means the last, so it was certainly
not the first bill transaction in which I had
been engaged. But as, on previous occasions,
I had always had to do with West-end
discounters, I thought that by transacting business
in the City I should get what I wanted at a
much cheaper rate than I could have done
on the fashionable side of Charing-cross. "A
shilling a pound a month, "or at the rate of sixty
per cent per annum, had always been thought a
fair profit by the gentlemen with whom I had
previously dealt, and I therefore informed my
new friends that I was ready "to lose" seven
pound ten shillings on the fifty pounds for the
three months, and to take forty-two pounds ten
shillings for my bill. At this proposition both
the Germans laughed outright: Mr. Steinmetz
the longer, the louder, and by far the more
offensively. They then jabbered together in
German for about a minute, after which Mr.
Fanst turned to me and said, "Are you quite
certain, sir, that this bill will be paid by your
friend who has accepted it, when it is due?" I
replied, "I had not the least doubt about it; my
friend was a gentleman of some little means, was
an honourable man,"—the two discounters
sneered at each other when I mentioned the
word honourable—"was an officer in the army,
was known to meet his engagements, and that
in any case, if he failed, I would certainly pay
the money." As I spoke, I observed Mr. Fanst
busy writing down something in his pocket-book,
but I thought he was merely engaged in calculating
what terms he would ask me for discounting
the bill.  At last he handed the book and
pencil to Steinmetz, who hastily wrote something
—it seemed as if he merely added his
initials to the writing, and gave it back to Mr.
Fanst. The latter then turned to me and said,
"Now, sir, I will tell you what I will do for
you. I have got no money of my own to
dispose of to-day, but here is a cheque for thirty-
four pounds sixteen shillings from the Rhine
Steam-boat Company, payable to my order. I
will endorse it, and make it over to you for your
bill, if you like. Only, remember that I know
nothing of the acceptor of the bill, and that I take
it partly on account of the introduction you have
brought to my friend Mr. Steinmetz, but chiefly
on account of the representations you have made
respecting the bill, and of its being certain to be
met at maturity."

Here was a state of affairs! On the one hand,
I was as poor as a man could be, and in order
to avoid a writ being served upon me, wanted to
pay away some money that very day. But to
pay upwards of fifteen pounds for the discount of
a bill at three months for fifty—being at the rate
of more than a hundred and twenty per cent per
annum—I thought too much of a good thing.
For a few seconds I turned the matter over in
my mind, and during the time my face was
closely scanned by the two Germans: Mr. Steinmetz
certainly evincing more anxiety than his
fellow-countryman, to know whether I decided
upon taking their offer. It was curious enough
to remark that, although both professed not to
wish to do the bill for me, yet both seemed very
anxious that I should accept the conditions.

This very eagerness made me nervous and
uncertain. I temporised with them, and, turning
to Mr. Fanst, said, "Make it even money, give