headache, you can't get them changed. I asked an old friend of mine,
who has been connected with the Bank of England for the last fifty
years, and he assured me that there was nothing like sovereigns."

"But you never get the value for them."

"Well, not quite. One loses a franc, or a franc and a half. But
still, there's the certainty, and that's the great matter. An English
sovereign will go anywhere," and he spoke these words with
considerable triumph.

"Undoubtedly, if you consent to lose a shilling on each sovereign."

"At any rate, I have got three hundred and fifty in that box," he
said. "I have them done up in rolls of twenty-five pounds each."

I again recommended him to keep this arrangement of his as private as
possible,--a piece of counsel which I confess seemed to me to be much
needed,--and then I went away to my own room, having first accepted an
invitation from Mrs. Greene to join their party at dinner. "Do," said
she; "we have been so dull, and it will be so pleasant."

I did not require to be much pressed to join myself to a party in
which there was so pretty a girl as Miss Greene, and so attractive a
woman as Mrs. Greene. I therefore accepted the invitation readily,
and went away to make my toilet. As I did so I passed the door of Mr.
Greene's room, and saw the long file of boxes being borne into the
centre of it.

I spent a pleasant evening, with, however, one or two slight