n me one
hundred pounds."

"Do you mean," I cried, "one hundred pounds that don't belong to you?"

"Of course I do. If they had belonged to me there wouldn't have been
anything to make a fuss about."

"This," I said, "is one of the most breathless things ever known.
A mere woman, who is unskilled in finance and has only the dimmest
recollection of the rule of three and compound interest, gets the
better of the greatest banking institution in the world to the tune of
one hundred pounds. It's incredible. Of course you've made a mistake."

"That's right," she said. "Always go against your wife and think her
wrong, even when it is only an institution that she's contending
with."

"It's precisely because it is an institution that I doubt your
statement."

"You're not very helpful; you don't tell me whether I'm to sit down
under the burden of owning one hundred pounds of the bank's money that
doesn't belong to me."

"Francesca," I said, "you must calm yourself and tell me as clearly
as possible how you came into possession of this extra hundred pounds
which is apparently burning a hole in your pocket--if indeed you have
a pocket, which I doubt."

"You're quite wrong; I've got two pockets in the dress I'm wearing at
this moment."

"I will not," I said, "discuss with you the number of your pockets.
Now tell me your pathetic story. I am all ears."

"Well," said Francesca, "it's this way. I put one hundred pounds in
the old War Loan, and then Exchequer Bonds came along, and I put one
hundred pounds of my very best savings into them, and then came the
new Five per Cent. War Loan, and somehow or other I got converted into
that. And after that there was what they called a broken amount, which
I brought up to fifty pounds or a multiple of fifty pounds. That cost
me about forty pounds. I don't know why they wanted me to do it or why
I did it."

"Probably they thought it would be easier for the Bank."

"That's paltry; easiness ought to have nothing to do with it."

"Anyhow," I said, "I make out from your statement that you ought to
have two hundred and fifty pounds of Five per Cent. Stock to your
credit."

"Precisely," said Francesca impressively, "but yesterday morning I
received from the bank a dividend thing--"

"You may call it a warrant," I said.

"A dividend warrant," continued Francesca, "for eight pounds fifteen
shillings on _three_ hundred and fifty pounds, so what have you got to
say now for your precio