nkers. As
soon as I presented my letters of introduction they received me with the
greatest consideration, lavishing every attention upon me, inviting me
to dinner and to a drive through the city afterward. I thanked them, and
explained that I was obliged to decline, as my agent was waiting for me
at Bayonne, where I had purchased some real estate, and, having been
recommended to their firm, I should feel obliged if they would cash my
draft for L2,000 and indorse it on my letter of credit. The manager
replied that it was the custom of the French bankers to require
twenty-four hours' notice before drawing a check, and asked me if the
next day would not answer. "We shall be happy to assist you," said he,
"in passing the time pleasantly." This was a new custom to me, but I
answered instantly, expressing regret that the nature of my business
precluded delay, it being necessary that I should reach Bayonne that
night. "I suppose," continued I, "that your bankers will not mind your
checking out a small sum without the usual notice. However, if it
occasions any embarrassment or inconvenience, I can easily procure the
money elsewhere." One of the partners replied that their bank would
without doubt honor their check, and the matter should be attended to at
once. I sat down for a half hour, conversing on a variety of topics. Of
course, this was a most trying period to me; the least show of haste or
anxiety might have betrayed me to those lynx-eyed, experienced men of
business. In the midst of our conversation an undercurrent of thought
kept running through my mind thus: "Who knows but they have sent a
dispatch to the Union Bank of London, merely as a matter of business
precaution, and that they are delaying me to get a reply? In that case I
shall have a good opportunity to learn the pure French accent while
passing my days in the Bagnio at Toulon." At last, however, the amount
was paid over to me in French bank notes. I deliberately counted them
and took leave, lighter in mind and heavier in purse by 50,000 francs.

[Illustration: THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR SIDNEY WATERLOW, Lord Mayor of
London in 1873, in official costume.]

I had arranged that I would send all the money I obtained to the Queen's
Hotel, London, by post at the earliest possible moment after receiving
it, that in the event of any accident to myself the money should be
safe.

After receiving the money I inclosed it in a large envelope, addressing
it to the hotel in