$5,000
By the picnics 3,000
By the lecture 600
By profit and loss on capital in Pinkerton's
business 1,350
------
$9,950

to which must be added

What remained of my grandfather's donation 8,500
------
$18,450

It appears, on the other hand, that

I had spent 4,000
------
Which thus left me to the good $14,450

a result on which I am not ashamed to say I looked with gratitude and
pride. Some eight thousand (being late conquest) was liquid and actually
tractile in the bank; the rest whirled beyond reach and even sight (save
in the mirror of a balance-sheet) under the compelling spell of wizard
Pinkerton. Dollars of mine were tacking off the shores of Mexico, in
peril of the deep and the guardacostas; they rang on saloon counters in
the city of Tombstone, Arizona; they shone in faro-tents among the
mountain diggings: the imagination flagged in following them, so wide
were they diffused, so briskly they span to the turning of the wizard's
crank. But here, there, or everywhere I could still tell myself it was
all mine, and--what was more convincing--draw substantial dividends. My
fortune, I called it; and it represented, when expressed in dollars or
even British pounds, an honest pot of money; when extended into francs,
a veritable fortune. Perhaps I have let the cat out of the bag; perhaps
you see already where my hopes were pointing, and begin to blame my
inconsistency. But I must first tell you my excuse, and the change that
had befallen Pinkerton.

About a week after the picnic to which he escorted Mamie, Pinkerton
avowed the state of his affections. From what I had observed on board
the steamer--where, methought, Mamie waited on him with her limpid
eyes--I encouraged the bashful lover to proceed; and the very next
evening he was carrying me to call on his affianced.

"You must befriend her, Loudon, as you have always befriended me," he
said pathetically.

"By saying disagreeable things? I doubt if that be the way to a young
lady's favour," I replied; "and since this picnicking I begin to be a
man of so