The  fact  is,  my  dear  Martin,  I'm  not  so
young  as  I  was.  In  years  I'm  not  much
past  middle  age,  but  I've  had  the  devil
of  a  life  of  it,  and  I  shouldn't  be  surprised
if  old  Marcus  Whittingham's  lease  was
pretty  nearly  up.  At  any  rate,  my  only
chance,  so  Anderson  tells  me,  is  to  get  a


A  DIPLOMATIC  ARRANGEMENT      259

rest,  and  I'm  going"  to  give  myself  that
chance.  I  had  thought  at  first  of  trying
to  find  a  successor  (as  I  have  been  denied
an  heir  of  my  body),  and  I  thought  of
you.  But,  while  I  was  considering  this,
I  received  a  confidential  proposal  from  the

Government  of '  (here  the  President

named  the  state  of  which  Aureataland  had
formed  part).  '  They  were  very  anxious
to  get  back  their  province  ;  at  the  same
time,  they  were  not  at  all  anxious  to  try
conclusions  with  me  again.  In  short,  they
offered,  if  Aureataland  would  came  back,
a  guarantee  of  local  autonomy  and  full
freedom  ;  they  would  take  on  themselves
the  burden  of  the  debt,  and  last,  but  not
least,  they  would  offer  the  present  Presi-
dent of  the  Republic  a  compensation  of
500,000  dollars.
'  I  have  not  yet  finally  accepted  the
offer,  but  I  am  going  to  do  so — obtaining,
as  a  matter  of  form,  the  sanction  of  the
Assembly.       I    have    made    them    double


2  6o  A  MAN  OF  MARK

their  offer  to  me,  but  in  the  pubhc  docu-
ments the  money  is  to  stand  at  the  original
figure.  This  recognition  of  my  services,
together  with  my  little  savings  (restored,
my  dear  Martin,  to  the  wash-stand),  will
make  me  pretty  comfortable  in  my  old
age,  and  leave  a  competence  for  my  widow.
