me forty pounds, and I'll do the business.
That will be discounting at the rate of eighty
per cent per annum." But these Hamburg
Hebrews were by no means ready to part
with the sum of five pounds four shillings.
They declared that the risk was great; that
twenty per cent could be got, in the City on short
bills, with goods—stolen, I presume—in hand
as security; that they only knew me in this
transaction; that they had not inquired about
the acceptor, who might be good or might
be bad—most probably (so they charitably
concluded) the latter—and that if I went to the
bad in any way, they would have no one from
whom to recover the money. But I stood
firm, and, after a world of trouble they agreed
to split the difference, and to give me thirty-
seven pounds for my bill, which, they
consequently discounted at the rate of about a
hundred and four per cent per annum.

If any one wants three months to pass over
quickly, let him give a bill at that date. The
money I got for the slip of stamped paper bearing
my signature as drawer, as well as my
endorsement, was gone in less than a week; but
the period which bankers call "maturity"
seemed to come almost as soon. I received a
letter from Mr. Fanst telling me that the bill
would be due on such a day, and warning me
that if it were not paid, he would have to put
it into the hands of his solicitor. I wrote to my
military friend, the acceptor of the bill (who, I
have forgotten to mention, had half the amount
for which it was discounted), and asked him to
provide for the payment of half the amount of the
bill. As ill luck would have it, my friend had been
ordered abroad at two days' notice to join his
regiment. Previous to leaving England he had
paid the money due upon his half of the bill,
twenty-five pounds, to a brother-officer, with
directions to find me out and send it to me.
This gentleman had lost the memorandum
containing my name and address, and, not knowing
what to do, had remitted the money back
to my friend, who by this time was well on his
way to India, via the Cape. The bill, which
was made payable at the army agent's where my
friend kept his account, was presented there for
payment; but as the acceptor had, previous to
sailing for India, closed his account with his
agents, it was returned with a bit of paper
pinned to it, on which were written the words,
"No effects." To make matters worse, the money
upon which I had depended to meet my half
of the bill was not paid me, although I felt
certain that it would be forthcoming in two or
three weeks. I wrote to this effect to Mr. Fanst,
but, having lately changed my residence, I did
not give him my new aadress, for I did not want
to have writs served upon me. I mentioned where
a letter would find me; but to my surprise
received no reply, nor, for a week or two, did I
hear anything whatever concerning the bill.

At last, one morning happening to go into
the shop of my tailor, Mr. Snips, that individual
took me aside with a most anxious face, and
told me he had heard the previous day in the
City that Mr. Fanst was not going to sue me
before a civil court for the bill, but had put the
whole affair into the hands of a criminal lawyer,
and had determined to take out a summons or
warrant against me at the Mansion House. He,
Mr. Fanst, had been on the previous day at the
clothier's, of whom I spoke before, and had
declared his conviction that the whole affair was
a "tammed swindle," and that I had obtained
the money from him under false pretences. The
acceptor of the bill, he said, was not to be
found in England, and I, the drawer, had been
keeping out of the way ever since the bill was
due. Moreover, he declared that when I asked
him and he consented to discount the bill, I had
told him that the acceptor was a man of means,
an officer in the army, and certain to meet his
engagements; also, that I myself would certainly
have the means to pay the bill at maturity,
supposing the acceptor failed to do so. He
told the clothier that he had taken down my
words in writing at the time, and that a friend
of his who was present had heard all I said, and
had even put his initials to those words. This,
accounted for the writing in the pocket-book.

I knew very well that I was perfectly innocent
of any intention to defraud Mr. Fanst or Mr.
Steinmetz. But to be "had up" at the Mansion
House on a criminal charge, whether proved or
not, was enough to blast the best character for
life. In my perplexity I went to see a solicitor,
and by his advice kept out of the way, employing
in the mean time my tailor, Mr. Snips, who
reported all he learnt of the enemy's movements.
The story Mr. Fanst made out was this:
I had gone to see him—had sought him out,
—had offered him a bill for discount, which
I told him was accepted by an officer in the
army, who was a captain in rank and a man of
means. On the faith of my representation he
had discounted the bill, having taken the
precaution to note down what I told him
respecting my own means and those of the acceptor.
These words of mine he had written
in the presence of a friend, who had put his
initials to them, and who could swear to the
truth of what he said. Also, that the tale I had
told him was, that I had recently been left a
considerable legacy, but that two or three mouths
would elapse before the money would be paid
me, and that I wanted the money for this bill in
the mean time. I need hardly say that this story
was altogether and entirely false, but the rascal
had a witness who would no doubt swear to the
truth of all he said, and was equally certain to
deny all I could put forward in my defence. On
the other hand, I had no one who could say a word
in my behalf, for the only witness present when
the transaction took place was Mr. Steinmetz.

At first I resolved to brave out the infamous
accusation, and to dare the scoundrels to take
me to the Mansion House. But after a long
consultation with my solicitor, and at his urgent
advice, I determined not to do so. As the case
stood, he said, the chances were greatly in favour
of the Lord Mayor or Alderman committing the
case for trial. Mr. Fanst had an office in the City,