The reasonableness of Gingham’s expectations was fully borne out, by scenes which I afterwards witnessed, when accompanying the military chest, as it moved from place to place with the headquarters of the British army. A gentleman, say a Frenchman or a Spaniard, has a claim for payment, on account of provisions, forage, or other necessaries, supplied for the service of the troops—the amount, suppose, ten thousand dollars. After long following headquarters from place to place, till he is far distant from his own home, he has at length established his claim: it’s all right, he has got a written order for payment, and enters our office elated, bearing it between his finger and thumb, eager to receive the cash. The cashier takes the bill, points to five deal boxes, each containing two thousand dollars, and tells him, “There’s the money.” I have seen a man, under such circumstances, knocked down in a moment, perfectly dumfounded. He has not brought a horse and cart, and every available conveyance has been impressed by the troops. One of the five boxes is as much as a man can carry; two are a load for a mule. If he has a lodging in the place, he possesses no means even of taken them there; but probably he has none—the whole town is full of soldiers. But to-morrow it will be worse: the army will have swept on; headquarters will be three or four leagues in advance; and the troops will be succeeded by stragglers, camp-followers, marauders, and all the lawless tribe that close up the rear of an advancing host. Poor man! what an alteration in his looks! He sees, in an instant, the full amount of his difficulties. Two minutes ago, he was dying to realise; now, he has got the cash, and doesn’t know what to do with it. I remember an instance when an acquaintance of mine, a Frenchman, came to receive five thousand dollars, which, with the aid of an attendant, he removed from the office. Presently he reappeared at the door, caught my eye, intimated by bows and simpers his request for a private interview. It was easy to guess the subject of his communication, but I followed him out. He had got his five bags in a cowhouse. His home was distant a two days’ journey. How was he to get them there? Could he have gold instead of silver? Would gladly make any sacrifice in the way of _agio_. Couldn’t I _arrange_ it?—How he managed at last, I never learned—whether he got his dollars to a place of safety, or was robbed and murdered on the road. Sometimes the claimants would come eagerly demanding their money, and, the next moment, would most earnestly entreat permission to leave it in our keeping. If a man so circumstanced, instead of hard dollars, could have had paper securing him cash at demand, at a time more convenient for receiving it—in short, Gingham’s plan just meets a case like this. And Gingham, who knew headquarters well, especially in respect to financial details and the attendant difficulties, had devised his scheme as a practical remedy.