ll," said Rollo; "just right for my watch and me."

"Well, I don't know," said Mr. George, in a hesitating tone, as if he
were considering whether the purchase would be wise or not. "You have
got money enough."

"Yes," said Rollo; "besides my credit on your book, I have got in my
pocket two sovereigns and two pennies, and, besides that, your due bill
for four shillings."

"Yes," said Mr. George, "I must pay that due bill."

What Rollo meant by a due bill was this: Mr. George was accustomed to
keep his general account with Rollo in a book which he carried with him
for this purpose, and from time to time he would pay Rollo such sums as
he required in sovereigns, charging the amount in the book. It often
happened, however, in the course of their travels, that Mr. George would
have occasion to borrow some of this money of Rollo for the purpose of
making change, or Rollo would borrow small sums of Mr. George. In such
cases the borrower would give to the lender what he called a due bill,
which was simply a small piece of paper with the sum of money borrowed
written upon it, and the name of the borrower, or his initials,
underneath. When Mr. George gave Rollo such a due bill for change which
he had borrowed of him, Rollo would keep the due bill in his purse with
his money until Mr. George, having received a supply of change, found it
convenient to pay it.

The due bill which Rollo referred to in the above conversation was as
follows:--

[Illustration: Four shillings. G. H.]

Mr. George adopted the plan of giving or receiving a due bill in all
cases where he borrowed money of Rollo or lent money to him, in order to
accustom Rollo to transact all his business in a regular and methodical
manner, and to avoid the possibility of any mistake or any difference of
opinion between them in respect to the question whether the money was
actually borrowed, or whether it had not been repaid. I strongly
recommend to all the readers of this book to adopt some such plan as
this in all their pecuniary transactions with others, whether they are
great or small, and to adhere to it very rigidly. This rule is
especially important when the parties having pecuniary transactions with
each other are friends; and the more intimate their friendship is, the
more important is this rule.

It is true, it would not be polite and proper for you to _ask_ for such
a memorandum of a friend to whom you casually lend some small sum, but
you can always _of