“Nor there, either. I was meditating a trip to England.” “We should be on the road together,” said Merl. “I'm off by four o'clock.” “How so? What's the reason of this sudden start?” “There's going to be a crash here,” said Merl, speaking in a lower tone. “The Government have been doing the thing with too high a hand, and there's mischief brewing.” “Are you sure of this?” asked Martin. “Only too sure, that's all. I bought in, on Tuesday last, at sixty-four and an eighth, and the same stock is now fifty-one and a quarter, and will be forty to-morrow. The day after--” Here Mr. Merl made a motion with his outstretched arm, to indicate utter extinction. “You're a heavy loser, then?” asked Martin, eagerly. “I shall be, to the tune of some thirteen thousand pounds. It was just on that account I came in here. I shall need money within the week, and must turn those Irish securities of yours into cash,--some of them at least,--and I want a hint from you as to which I ought to dispose of and which hold over. You told me one day, I remember, that there was a portion of the property likely to rise greatly in value--” “_You_ told me, sir,” said Captain Martin, breaking suddenly in, “when I gave you these same bonds, that they should remain in your own hands, and never leave them. That was the condition on which I gave them.” “I suppose, Captain, you gave them for something; you did not make a present of them,” said the Jew, coloring slightly. “If I did not make a present of them,” rejoined Martin, “the transaction was about as profitable to me.” “You owed me the money, sir; that, at least, is the way I regard the matter.” “And when I paid it by these securities, you pledged yourself not to negotiate them. I explained to you how the entail was settled,--that the property must eventually be mine,--and you accepted the arrangement on these conditions.” “All true, Captain; but nobody told me, at that time, there was going to be a revolution in Paris,--which there will be within forty-eight hours.” “Confounded fool that I was to trust the fellow!” said Martin to himself, but quite loud enough to be heard; then turning to Merl, he said, “What do you mean by converting them into cash? Are you about to sell part of our estate?” “Nothing of the kind, Captain,” said Merl, smiling at the innocence of the question. “I am simply going to deposit these where I can obtain an advance upon them. I promise you, besides, it shall not be in any quarter by which the transaction can reach the ears of your family. This assurance will, I trust, satisfy _you_, and entitle _me_ to the information I ask for.” “What information do you allude to?” asked Martin, who had totally forgotten what the Jew announced as the reason of his visit. “I asked you, Captain,” said Merl, resuming the mincing softness of his usual manner, “as to which of these securities might be the more eligible for immediate negotiation?”