moreover, he paid me the compliment, always so sweet to youth, of treating me as a man of the world. with condescending confidence he told me many tales of his earlier days; and as he had been everywhere and done everything where and which a man ought not to be and do, his conversation was naturally most interesting. i am not holding myself up as an example, he said, after one of his most unusual anecdotes. i can only hope that my public services will be allowed to weigh in the balance against my private frailties. he said this with some emotion. even your excellency, said i, may be content to claim in that respect the same indulgence as caesar and henri quatre. quite so, said the president. i suppose they were not exactlyeh? i believe not, i answered, admiring the presidents readiness, for he certainly had a very dim notion who either of them was. dinner was over and the table cleared before the president seemed inclined for serious conversation. then he called for cigars, and pushing them toward me said: take one, and fill your glass. dont believe people who tell you not to drink and smoke at the same time. wine is better without smoke, and smoke is better without wine, but the combination is better than either separately. i obeyed his commands, and we sat smoking and sipping in silence for some moments. then the president said, suddenly: mr. martin, this country is in a perilous condition. good god, your excellency! said i, do you refer to the earthquake? (there had been a slight shock a few days before.) no, sir, he replied, to the finances. the harbor works have proved far more expensive than i anticipated. i hold in my hand the engineers certificate that nine hundred and three thousand dollars have been actually expended on them, and they are not finishednot by any means finished. they certainly were not; they were hardly begun. dear me, i ventured to say, that seems a good deal of money, considering what there is to show for it. you cannot doubt the certificate, mr. martin, said the president. i did doubt the certificate, and should have liked to ask what fee the engineer had received. but i hastily said it was, of course, beyond suspicion. yes, said he steadily, quite beyond suspicion. you see, mr. martin, in my position i am compelled to be liberal. the government cannot set other employers the example of grinding men down by low wages. however, reasons apart, there is the fact. we cannot go on without more money; and i may tell you, in confidence, that the political situation makes it imperative we should go on. not only is my personal honor pledged, but the opposition, mr. martin, led by the colonel, is making itself obnoxiousyes, i may say very obnoxious. the colonel, sir, said i, with a freedom engendered of dining, is a beast. well, said the president, with a tolerant smile, the colonel, unhappily for the country, is no true patriot. but he is powerful; he is rich; he is, under myself alone, in command of the army. and, moreover, i believe he stands well with the signorina. the situation, in fact, is desperate. i must have money, mr. martin. will your directors make me a new loan? i knew very well the fate that would attend any such application. the directors were already decidedly uneasy about their first loan; shareholders had asked awkward questions, and the chairman had found no small difficulty in showing that the investment was likely to prove either safe or remunerative. again, only a fortnight before, the government had made a formal application to me on the same subject. i cabled the directors, and received a prompt reply in the single word tootsums, which in our code meant, must absolutely and finally decline to entertain any applications. i communicated the contents of the cable to señor don antonio de la casabianca, the minister of finance, who had, of course, communicated them in turn to the president. i ventured to remind his excellency of these facts. he heard me with silent attention. i fear, i concluded, therefore, that it is impossible for me to be of any assistance to your excellency. he nodded, and gave a slight sigh. then, with an air of closing the subject, he said: i suppose the directors are past reason