bright summer morning, when any man
who had any goodness in him could not help being good, and when the
rate of exchange had risen to twenty-one, I came to my office full
of noble intentions and hundred franc notes of my own. I may mention
in passing that it takes very little money to fill me up. I had just
cashed a cheque of my own at the rate of a hundred-and-five francs to
the five pounds, and I felt robust and self-confident and ready to
do it again. There, on the top of my "Suspense" basket, lay just the
very cheque for the purpose. Charles, I fell again. Explaining to
myself that Mr. Abrahams had clearly intimated that his gift to the
Government was alternatively a note for a hundred francs or a cheque
for five pounds, I put a note for a hundred francs into the "Suspense"
basket, and pocketed the cheque, _thus making another five francs
profit_.

That, my Lord, is the case for the prosecution; but you may as well
have the rest of the story. Instructions or no instructions, I
thought it was now time to send the note for a hundred francs to the
Government. The Government said it had no use for francs in England,
sent back the note to me and told me to buy, locally, an English
cheque, which I was to hold, pending further instructions. It took
some time to arrive at this point, and meanwhile rate of exchange had
had a serious relapse. The hundred franc note bought a cheque for five
guineas. Not feeling strong enough to pend further instructions, I
at once sent this home. More haste, less speed: I forgot to endorse
it. After another period the cheque came back, with a memo. The memo
said: (1) His Majesty's Government had no love or use for unendorsed
cheques drawn in favour of other people. (2) His Majesty's Government
requested me to endorse the cheque, cash it locally and put the
proceeds to the credit side of my expenses account. (3) His Majesty's
Government trusted that Mr. Abrahams would not cause this sort of
trouble again.

Whether it was the stimulus given by this memo, or whether it
was merely a case of giving up the drink and becoming a reformed
character, rate of exchange had, I found when I went to carry out
orders, risen to and stuck at the dizzy height of twenty-three francs
and twenty centimes to the pound. His Majesty's Government has drawn
in the long run (the very long run) the sum of one hundred and
twenty-one francs and eighty centimes, thus making more than twice
as heavy a profit as I had. And