.. $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 guarda-costas; 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.
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