I'm not much past middle
age, but I've had the devil of a life
of it, and I shouldn't be surprised if old
Marcus Whittingham's lease was pretty
nearly up. At any rate, my only chance,
so Anderson tells me, is to get rest, and
I'm going to give myself that chance.
I had thought at first of trying to find a
successor (as I have been denied an
heir of my body), and I thought of you.
But, while I was considering this, I received
a confidential proposal from the
Government of ---- [here the President
named the state of which Aureataland
had formed part]. They were
very anxious to get back their province;
at the same time, they were not at all
anxious to try conclusions with me again.
In short, they offered, if Aureataland
would come back, a guarantee of local
autonomy and full freedom; they would
take on themselves the burden of the
debt, and last, but not least, they would
offer the present President of the Republic
a compensation of five hundred
thousand dollars.

"I have not yet finally accepted the
offer, but I am going to do so--obtaining,
as a matter of form, the sanction of
the Assembly. I have made them double
their offer to me, but in the public documents
the money is to stand at the original
figure. This recognition of my
services, together with my little savings
(restored, my dear Martin, to the washstand),
will make me pretty comfortable
in my old age, and leave a competence
for my widow. Aureataland has had a
run alone; if there had been any grit in
the people they would have made a
nation of themselves. There isn't any,
and I'm not going to slave myself for
them any longer. No doubt they'll be
very well treated, and to tell the truth,
I don't much care if they aren't. After
all, they're a mongrel lot.

"I know you'll be pleased to hear of
this arrangement, as it gives your old
masters a better chance of getting their
money, for, between ourselves, they'd
never have got it out of me. At the
risk of shocking your feelings, I must
confess that your revolution only postponed
the day of repudiation.

"I hoped to have asked you some day
to rejoin us here. As matters stand, I
am more likely to come and find you;
for, when released, Christina and I are
going to bend our steps to the States.
And we hope to come soon. There's
a little difficulty outstanding about the
terms