"No, we have not exactly lost, but we have not made any thing worth speaking of."
"Well, so long as we have not lost, we have done pretty well."
"What is the news?"
"Lee has surrendered, and the Confederacy has gone up; that is the whole sum and substance of it."
"But there are other armies in the field, and they will probably be able to hold out. It does not follow that the Confederacy is gone up because Lee has surrendered."
"People about here think differently; at any rate, the Confederate bond business is killed."
I did not care to argue this point with him, as his only interest in the Confederacy was in what he could make out of it. So I asked, "Have you got in all the money?"
"Yes," he replied; "but the bonds have gone up higher than a kite."
"Well, you bring your books and make out your statement; we will have a settlement at once, for I intend to get out of the country as fast as I am able."
A Settlement of Accounts.
The next day I met him in accordance with our agreement, and presented my statement, with a proposition that he should take half the bonds in my hands, and we stand equal losses.
This he refused point blank to do, and professed to be highly indignant that I should make such a proposition.
I then refused to settle ; at which he got very angry, and threatened to have me arrested, indulging in some strong language, which did not frighten me a bit; for, apart from the fact that I did not scare easily, I knew that I had the advantage of him, and that he would not dare, for his own sake, to carry his threat into execution. I had about sixty thousand dollars of his money, while he had only about eighteen thousand of mine, in consequence of which, although he indulged in a good deal of bluster, he finally consented to settle on equal terms—share and share alike, both in the profits and the losses. This matter being arranged, I bade him farewell, glad enough to get rid of him, and glad to get out of such a business. Such was the end of my secret banking and brokerage transactions.
