o;
now, a jaguar or a rattlesnake: but with whom, or whatever the struggle,
it was always for money! Nothing else seemed to have any hold upon my
thoughts. Wealth, and wealth alone, appeared the guiding principle of my
being; and, as the penalty, I was now to learn the ceaseless anxieties,
the torturing dreads, this passion begets.

With daylight, however, I awoke, and the bright sun, streaming in,
brought the glorious reality of my happy lot before me, and reminded
me of the various duties my high state imposed. My first care was
to ascertain the amount and security of my riches; and I resolved to
proceed regularly and in the most business-like manner in the matter.
To this end I ordered my carriage, and proceeded to pay my visit to the
banker, Don Xafire.

I had devised and demolished full fifty ingenious narratives of myself
when I drove into the courtyard where the banker resided, and found
myself actually without one single satisfactory account of who I was,
whence I came, and by what means I became possessed of the formidable
papers I carried. "Let circumstances pilot the event" was my old maxim;
and, so saying, I entered.

The rattling tramp of my six mules, the cracking of whips, and the crash
of the wheels, brought many a head to the windows of the old jail-like
palace when my carriage drove up to the door, and the two outriders
stood in "a salute" at each side while I descended. "Sua Eccelenza El
Conde de Cregano" resounded through the arched hall and passages, as
an old servant in a tawdry suit of threadbare livery led the way to Don
Xafire's private apartment.

After a brief wait in a large but meagrely furnished chamber, an old
man--or a middle-aged one, with a look of age--entered, and, with a
profusion of ceremonial, in which he assured me that his house, his
wife, his oxen, his mules, his asses, and in fact everything "that was
his," stood at my disposal, asked to what fortunate event he owed the
honor of my visit.

"I am the representative, Senhor Xafire," said I, "of the great house of
Cregan and Company, of which doubtless you have heard, whose ships walk
the waters of the icy seas, and lay at anchor amid the perfumes of the
spice islands, and whose traffic unites two hemispheres."

"May they always be prosperous!" said the polite Spaniard, bowing.

"They have hitherto enjoyed that blessing," responded I, almost
thankfully. "Even as the youngest member of the firm, I have nothing
to complain