this proved that I was the better searcher. My subaltern, however, would
have it that the circumstances gave me no right of action against COX AND
CO. His sympathies were clearly with them, so I requested him kindly to get
on with his own work and not to interfere further in my private affairs. He
went away in a huff, got demobilised and, I have little doubt, married the
young lady who divided and subtracted and, with her, set up a bank of his
own. I devoted my young life to the search for some person, firm or
corporation, expert in pass-books, haughty of demeanour, capable of getting
blood out of a stone and not likely to give even the devil his due; I
wanted such an ally for the next assault.

I have always remained a civilian, and as such have retained my other
banker. A man of unlimited possessions, I may state accurately that I have
to-day no fewer than two banks of my own. Let us call this other one Box
and Co. That is not the real name, but it is as far as I dare go to refer
to them, even under an assumed name. Years of stern handling by them have
taken all the spirit out of me. It is as much as I can do to screw up my
courage so far as to ask the loan of a pound or two of my own money off
them. And there have been times, in the pre-1914 past, when I have felt it
would be better to go without money than to have the stuff thrown at me,
shovelled at me in that contemptuous offhand manner. I now repaired in
person to the premises of Box and Co., with their handsome marble façade
and their costly mahogany fittings, and had a word with Mr. Box himself. A
little artful flattery, a few simple lies and just a touch of ginger in the
matter of professional competition, and Box and Co. were brought into the
war. I handed them COX AND CO.'s pass-book and told them that now was their
time to go in and win.

I used to look in every other day to see how the struggle went. At first
Box and Co. were confident, remarking on my wisdom in placing myself (and