Were Mrs. Dillingham and Sam Yates justifiable in their treachery to Mr. Belcher? A nice question this, in casuistry! Certainly they had done as they would have been done by, had he been in their circumstances and they in his. He, at least, who had tried to debauch both of them, could reasonably find no fault with them. Their act was the natural result of his own influence. It was fruit from seeds of his own sowing. Had he ever approached them with a single noble and unselfish motive, neither of them could have betrayed him. CHAPTER XXV. IN WHICH THE GENERAL GOES THROUGH A GREAT MANY TRIALS AND MEETS AT LAST THE ONE HE HAS SO LONG ANTICIPATED. The fact that the General had deposited the proceeds of his foreign sales of arms with a European banking house, ostensibly subject to draft for the materials of his manufactures, has already been alluded to. This deposit had been augmented by subsequent sales, until it amounted to an imposing sum, which Mrs. Dillingham ascertained, from the little account-book, to be drawing a low rate of interest. With the proprietor, this heavy foreign deposit was partly a measure of personal safety, and partly a measure of projected iniquity. He had the instinct to provide against any possible contingencies of fortune or crime. Two or three days after his very agreeable call upon Mrs. Dillingham, he had so far mastered his difficulties connected with the International Mail that he could find time for another visit, to which he had looked forward with eager anticipation. "I was very much interested in your little book, Mr. Belcher," said the lady, boldly. "The General is one of the ablest of our native authors, eh?" responded that facetious person, with a jolly laugh. "Decidedly," said Mrs. Dillingham, "and so very terse and statistical." "Interesting book, wasn't it?" "Very! And it was so kind of you, General, to let me see how you men manage such things!" "We men!" and the General shrugged his shoulders. "One man, then," said the lady, on seeing that he was disposed to claim a monopoly in the wisdom of business. "Do you remember one little item--a modest little item--concerning my foreign deposits? Eh?" "Little item, General! What are you doing with so much money over there?" "Nothing, or next to nothing. That's my anchor to windward." "It will hold," responded the lady, "if weight is all that's needed." "I intend that it shall hold, and that it shall be larger before it is smaller." "I don't understand it;" and Mrs. Dillingham shook her pretty head.