At a quarter to five Mr. Felix made his
appearance. I spoke to him with candour:—

"I should tell you, sir, that I had no
thoughts of buying the house, till the owner
prevailed on me to do so. You say you want
the house; any other will suit me equally as
well, so I accede to your terms."

"You shall have a draft on Paris for the
amount in a fortnight," replied Mr. Felix, who
bowed and withdrew, apparently enchanted
with my way of doing business.

A draft upon Paris! The circumstance
appeared so unusual to me that I thought I
ought to send it to Paris to get it cashed. I
wrote accordingly to Messrs. Flanges and
Bergeret, the only firm I knew there. I was in
the habit of receiving through them the interest
of a small sum, that had been left me
by an uncle. I informed them that, having
funds at my disposal, I wished for information
as to the best mode of investing them.
The signification of the word "funds" varies
very much according to the name and
position in life of the speaker. The rumour
of my legacy had reached Paris; so that when
I spoke of "funds," it was evident I meant a
considerable sum. This was proved by the
following letter:

"SIR,—We are in receipt of your esteemed
favour of the 17th current, which
reached us just after the conclusion of the
last loan negotiated by the Cortes, in which
our firm has an interest. Desirous that
our friends should have an opportunity of
participating in an investment which we consider
profitable, we have taken the liberty of
placing twenty thousand piastres to your
credit. Should that amount appear too
considerable, the rise of those securities admits
of your selling out at a premium.
       "We remain, Sir,
          "Yours to command,
             "FLANGES AND Co."

To this was added a postscript written by
the head of the firm:

"We have heard with pleasure of the recent
good-fortune that has fallen to the lot of our
old friend and correspondent, and beg to offer
him our services, as occasion may require."

Twenty thousand piastres! I let the letter
fall in sheer amazement. What would have
been my astonishment, if, more conversant
with terms of commerce and more attentive
to the enclosed account current, I had seen
that what I took for the principal, was only
the yearly interest? I lost no time in writing
to my correspondents to inform them that the
sum was much too large.—"I have received
no money," I said, "from Martinique, and it
would be impossible for me to meet my
engagements."

An answer came by return of post.

"We learn, with regret, that you have
misgivings with regard to the Spanish loan.
According to your orders, we have sold out half
the stock assigned to you, which brings you in
already a net profit of eighty thousand francs.
With regard to your property at Martinique,
we are too well acquainted with the delays
which bequests at such a distance must
necessarily involve, to think for a moment
that you can be immediately put in possession
of your inheritance; but your simple signature
will suffice to procure you all the money
you may require in the meantime. We take
the liberty of reminding you of the advantage
of making timely investments: lest, when
the legal arrangements are ended, you should
find difficulty in getting good interest for so
large a capital. With the hope that you
may entertain a better opinion of German
securities than you do of Spanish, we hand
you a prospectus for establishing a bank at
Grünningen. You will please to observe, Sir,
that no deposit is required, and that, as calls
are only made at long intervals, it will be
easy for you to sell your shares, should you
change your mind, without your having occasion
to make any payment. We have placed
fifty to your credit, and have the honour to
remain," &c.

Eighty thousand francs! The amount was
a perfect mystery to me; no doubt the clerk
had made some mistake in the figures. My
position was becoming embarrassing.
Congratulations poured in from all quarters;
especially when I made my appearance in
black from head to foot. The Journal de
Goubmouges thought it right to publish a
biographical sketch of my cousin, and the editor
wrote to me asking for further particulars.
Ladies connected with all sorts of societies,
begged that my name might be added to their
list of subscribers, and the money that I had to
pay for postages was something alarming. To
escape from this avalanche of inquiries, I
hastily departed for Paris. Directly I got there,
I called on my bankers, by whom I was received
as heirs to a large property generally are.

"Sorry that you have such a poor opinion
of the Spanish stock," said Monsieur Bergeret;
"there has been a great rise; however, we
only sold out half your parcel."

"Would you have the goodness to let me
know what the present value of the remainder
might be?" I replied.

"Certainly, sir; ten thousand piastres
stock at seventy (the piastre being at five
francs, thirty-five centimes) the sum already
paid being—If you sell out to-day you will,
with the proceeds of last sale, have from two
hundred and ten thousand to two hundred
and twenty thousand francs."

"Very well. You said something about a
German bank, I think?"

"Yes; the Government made some difficulty
about granting a charter; but it is all settled
now, and the promised shares have risen
considerably."

"Can I sell out?"