第2章 The ?1000，000 Bank-Note

When I was twenty-seven years old, I was a mining-broker’s clerk in San Francisco, and an expert in all the details of stock traffic.I was alone in the world, and had nothing to depend upon but my wits and a clean reputation;but these were setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I was content with the prospect.

My time was my own after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I was accustomed to put it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and was carried out to sea.Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone, I was picked up by a small brig which was bound for London.It was a long and stormy voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor.When I stepped ashore in London my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket.This money fed and sheltered me twenty-four hours.During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter.

About ten o'apos;clock on the following morning, seedy and hungry, I was dragging myself along Portland Place, when a child that was passing, towed by a nurse-maid, tossed a luscious big pear—minus one bite—into the gutter. I stopped, of course, and fastened my desiring eye on that muddy treasure.My mouth watered for it, my stomach craved it, my whole being begged for it.But every time I made a move to get it some passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked indifferent, and pretended that I hadn’t been thinking about the pear at all.This same thing kept happening and happening, and I couldn’t get the pear.I was just getting desperate enough to brave all the shame, and to seize it, when a window behind me was raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying:“Step in here, please.”

I was admitted by a gorgeous flunkey, and shown into a sumptuous room where a couple of elderly gentlemen were sitting.They sent away the servant, and made me sit down.They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpowered me.I could hardly keep my wits together in the presence of that food, but as I was not asked to sample it, I had to bear my trouble as best I could.

Now, something had been happening there a little before, which I did not know anything about until a good many days afterwards, but I will tell you about it now.Those two old brothers had been having a pretty hot argument a couple of days before, and had ended by agreeing to decide it by a bet, which is the English way of settling everything.

You will remember that the Bank of England once issued two notes of a million pounds each, to be used for a special purpose connected with some public transaction with a foreign country.For some reason or other only one of these had been used and canceled;the other still lay in the vaults of the Bank.Well, the brothers, chatting along, happened to get to wondering what might be the fate of a perfectly honest and intelligent stranger who should be turned adrift in London without a friend, and with no money but that million-pound bank-note, and no way to account for his being in possession of it.Brother A said he would starve to death;Brother B said he wouldn’t.Brother A said he couldn’t offer it at a bank or anywhere else, because he would be arrested on the spot.So they went on disputing till Brother B said he would bet twenty thousand pounds that the man would live thirty days, anyway, on that million, and keep out of jail, too.Brother A took him up.Brother B went down to the Bank and bought that note.Just like an Englishman, you see;pluck to the backbone.Then he dictated a letter, which one of his clerks wrote out in a beautiful round hand, and then the two brothers sat at the window a whole day watching for the right man to give it to.

They saw many honest faces go by that were not intelligent enough;many that were intelligent, but not honest enough;many that were both, but the possessors were not poor enough, or, if poor enough, were not strangers.There was always a defect, until I came along;but they agreed that I filled the bill all around;so they elected me unanimously, and there I was now waiting to know why I was called in.They began to ask me questions about myself, and pretty soon they had my story.Finally they told me I would answer their purpose.I said I was sincerely glad, and asked what it was.Then one of them handed me an envelope, and said I would find the explanation inside.I was going to open it, but he said no;take it to my lodgings, and look it over carefully, and not be hasty or rash.I was puzzled, and wanted to discuss the matter a little further, but they didn’t;so I took my leave, feeling hurt and insulted to be made the butt of what was apparently some kind of a practical joke, and yet obliged to put up with it, not being in circumstances to resent affronts from rich and strong folk.

I would have picked up the pear now and eaten it before all the world, but it was gone;so I had lost that by this unlucky business, and the thought of it did not soften my feeling towards those men.As soon as I was out of sight of that house I opened my envelope, and saw that it contained money!My opinion of those people changed, I can tell you!I lost not a moment, but shoved note and money into my vest pocket, and broke for the nearest cheap eating house.Well, how I did eat!When at last I couldn’t hold any more, I took out my money and unfolded it, took one glimpse and nearly fainted.Five millions of dollars!Why, it made my head swim.

I must have sat there stunned and blinking at the note as much as a minute before I came rightly to myself again.The first thing I noticed, then, was the landlord.His eye was on the note, and he was petrified.He was worshiping, with all his body and soul, but he looked as if he couldn’t stir hand or foot.I took my cue in a moment, and did the only rational thing there was to do.I reached the note towards him, and said, carelessly:“Give me the change, please.”

Then he was restored to his normal condition, and made a thousand apologies for not being able to break the bill, and I couldn’t get him to touch it.He wanted to look at it, and keep on looking at it;he couldn’t seem to get enough of it to quench the thirst of his eye, but he shrank from touching it as if it had been something too sacred for poor common clay to handle.I said:“I am sorry if it is an inconvenience, but I must insist.Please change it;I haven’t anything else.”

But he said that wasn’t any matter;he was quite willing to let the trifle stand over till another time.I said I might not be in his neighborhood again for a good while;but he said it was of no consequence, he could wait, and, moreover, I could have anything I wanted, any time I chose, and let the account run as long as I pleased.He said he hoped he wasn’t afraid to trust as rich a gentleman as I was, merely because I was of a merry disposition, and chose to play larks on the public in the matter of dress.By this time another customer was entering, and the landlord hinted to me to put the monster out of sight;then he bowed me all the way to the door, and I started straight for that house and those brothers, to correct the mistake which had been made before the police should hunt me up, and help me do it.I was pretty nervous;in fact, pretty badly frightened, though, of course, I was no way in fault;but I knew men well enough to know that when they find they’ve given a tramp a million-pound bill when they thought it was a one-pounder, they are in a frantic rage against him instead of quarreling with their own near-sightedness, as they ought.As I approached the house my excitement began to abate, for all was quiet there, which made me feel pretty sure the blunder was not discovered yet.I rang.The same servant appeared.I asked for those gentlemen.

“They are gone.”This in the lofty, cold way of that fellow’s tribe.

“Gone?Gone where?”

“On a journey.”

“But whereabouts?”

“To the Continent, I think.”

“The Continent?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Which way—by what route?”

“I can’t say, sir.”

“When will they be back?”

“In a month, they said.”

“A month!Oh, this is awful!Give me some sort of idea of how to get a word to them.It’s of the last importance.”

“I can’t, indeed.I’ve no idea where they’ve gone, sir.”

“Then I must see some member of the family.”

“Family’s away, too;been abroad months—in Egypt and India, I think.”

“Man, there’s been an immense mistake made.They’ll be back before night.Will you tell them I’ve been here, and that I will keep coming till it’s all made right, and they needn’t be afraid?”

“I’ll tell them, if they come back, but I am not expecting them.They said you would be here in an hour to make inquiries, but I must tell you it’s all right, they’ll be here on time and expect you.”

So I had to give it up and go away.What a riddle it all was!I was like to lose my mind.They would be here“on time.”What could that mean?Oh, the letter would explain, maybe.I had forgotten the letter;I got it out and read it.This is what it said:

You are an intelligent and honest man, as one may see by your face.We conceive you to be poor and a stranger.Enclosed you will find a sum of money.It is lent to you for thirty days, without interest.Report at this house at the end of that time.I have a bet on you.If I win it you shall have any situation that is in my gift—any, that is, that you shall be able to prove yourself familiar with and competent to fill.

No signature, no address, no date.

Well, here was a coil to be in!You are posted on what had preceded all this, but I was not.It was just a deep, dark puzzle to me.I hadn’t the least idea what the game was, nor whether harm was meant me or a kindness.I went into a park, and sat down to try to think it out, and to consider what I had best do.

At the end of an hour my reasonings had crystallized into this verdict.

Maybe those men mean me well, maybe they mean me ill;no way to decide that—let it go.They’ve got a game, or a scheme, or an experiment, of some kind on hand;no way to determine what it is—let it go.There’s a bet on me;no way to find out what it is—let it go.That disposes of the indeterminable quantities;the remainder of the matter is tangible, solid, and may be classed and labeled with certainty.If I ask the Bank of England to place this bill to the credit of the man it belongs to, they’ll do it, for they know him, although I don’t;but they will ask me how I came in possession of it, and if I tell the truth, they’ll put me in the asylum, naturally, and a lie will land me in jail.The same result would follow if I tried to bank the bill anywhere or to borrow money on it.I have got to carry this immense burden around until those men come back, whether I want to or not.It is useless to me, as useless as a handful of ashes, and yet I must take care of it, and watch over it, while I beg my living.I couldn’t give it away, if I should try, for neither honest citizen nor highwayman would accept it or meddle with it for anything.Those brothers are safe.Even if I lose their bill, or burn it, they are still safe, because they can stop payment, and the Bank will make them whole;but meantime I’ve got to do a month’s suffering without wages or profit—unless I help win that bet, whatever it may be, and get that situation that I am promised.I should like to get that;men of their sort have situations in their gift that are worth having.

I got to thinking a good deal about that situation.My hopes began to rise high.Without doubt the salary would be large.It would begin in a month;after that I should be all right.Pretty soon I was feeling first-rate.By this time I was tramping the streets again.The sight of a tailor-shop gave me a sharp longing to shed my rags, and to clothe myself decently once more.Could I afford it?No;I had nothing in the world but a million pounds.So I forced myself to go on by.But soon I was drifting back again.The temptation persecuted me cruelly.I must have passed that shop back and forth six times during that manful struggle.At last I gave in;I had to.I asked if they had a misfit suit that had been thrown on their hands.The fellow I spoke to nodded his head towards another fellow, and gave me no answer.I went to the indicated fellow, and he indicated another fellow with his head, and no words.I went to him, and he said:“Tend to you presently.”

I waited till he was done with what he was at, then he took me into a back room, and overhauled a pile of rejected suits, and selected the rattiest one for me.I put it on.It didn’t fit, and wasn’t in any way attractive, but it was new, and I was anxious to have it;so I didn’t find any fault, but said, with some diffidence:“It would be an accommodation to me if you could wait some days for the money.I haven’t any small change about me.”

The fellow worked up a most sarcastic expression of countenance, and said:“Oh, you haven’t?Well, of course, I didn’t expect it.I’d only expect gentlemen like you to carry large change.”

I was nettled, and said:“My friend, you shouldn’t judge a stranger always by the clothes he wears.I am quite able to pay for this suit;I simply didn’t wish to put you to the trouble of changing a large note.”

He modified his style a little at that, and said, though still with something of an air:“I didn’t mean any particular harm, but as long as rebukes are going, I might say it wasn’t quite your affair to jump to the conclusion that we couldn’t change any note that you might happen to be carrying around.On the contrary, we can.”

I handed the note to him, and said:“Oh, very well;I apologize.”

He received it with a smile, one of those large smiles which goes all around over, and has folds in it, and wrinkles, and spirals, and looks like the place where you have thrown a brick in a pond;and then in the act of his taking a glimpse of the bill this smile froze solid, and turned yellow, and looked like those wavy, wormy spreads of lava which you find hardened on little levels on the side of Vesuvius.I never before saw a smile caught like that, and perpetuated.The man stood there holding the bill, and looking like that, and the proprietor hustled up to see what was the matter, and said, briskly:“Well, what’s up?what’s the trouble?what’s wanting?”

I said:“There isn’t any trouble.I’m waiting for my change.”

“Come, come;get him his change, Tod;get him his change.”

Tod retorted:“Get him his change!It’s easy to say, sir;but look at the bill yourself.”

The proprietor took a look, gave a low, eloquent whistle, then made a dive for the pile of rejected clothing, and began to snatch it this way and that, talking all the time excitedly, and as if to himself:“Sell an eccentric millionaire such an unspeakable suit as that!Tod’s a fool—a born fool.Always doing something like this.Drives every millionaire away from this place, because he can’t tell a millionaire from a tramp, and never could.Ah, here’s the thing I am after.Please get those things off, sir, and throw them in the fire.Do me the favor to put on this shirt and this suit;it’s just the thing, the very thing—plain, rich, modest, and just ducally nobby;made to order for a foreign prince—you may know him, sir, his Serene Highness the Hospodar of Halifax;had to leave it with us and take a mourning-suit because his mother was going to die—which she didn’t.But that’s all right;we can’t always have things the way we—that is, the way they—there!trousers all right, they fit you to a charm, sir;now the waistcoat;aha, right again!now the coat—Lord!look at that, now!Perfect—the whole thing!I never saw such a triumph in all my experience.”

I expressed my satisfaction.

“Quite right, sir, quite right;it’ll do for a makeshift, I’m bound to say.But wait till you see what we’ll get up for you on your own measure.Come, Tod, book and pen;get at it.Length of leg，32''”—and so on.Before I could get in a word he had measured me, and was giving orders for dress-suits, morning suits, shirts, and all sorts of things.When I got a chance I said:“But, my dear sir, I can’t give these orders, unless you can wait indefinitely, or change the bill.”

“Indefinitely!It’s a weak word, sir, a weak word.Eternally—that’s the word, sir.Tod, rush these things through, and send them to the gentleman’s address without any waste of time.Let the minor customers wait.Set down the gentleman’s address and—”

“I’m changing my quarters.I will drop in and leave the new address.”

“Quite right, sir, quite right.One moment—let me show you out, sir.There—good day, sir, good day.”

Well, don’t you see what was bound to happen?I drifted naturally into buying whatever I wanted, and asking for change.Within a week I was sumptuously equipped with all needful comforts and luxuries, and was housed in an expensive private hotel in Hanover Square.I took my dinners there, but for breakfast I stuck by Harris’s humble feeding house, where I had got my first meal on my million-pound bill.I was the making of Harris.The fact had gone all abroad that the foreign crank who carried million-pound bills in his vest pocket was the patron saint of the place.That was enough.From being a poor, struggling, little hand-to-mouth enterprise, it had become celebrated, and overcrowded with customers.Harris was so grateful that he forced loans upon me, and would not be denied;and so, pauper as I was, I had money to spend, and was living like the rich and the great.I judged that there was going to be a crash by and by, but I was in now and must swim across or drown.You see there was just that element of impending disaster to give a serious side, a sober side, yes, a tragic side, to a state of things which would otherwise have been purely ridiculous.In the night, in the dark, the tragedy part was always to the front, and always warning, always threatening;and so I moaned and tossed, and sleep was hard to find.But in the cheerful daylight the tragedy element faded out and disappeared, and I walked on air, and was happy to giddiness, to intoxication, you may say.

And it was natural;for I had become one of the notorieties of the metropolis of the world, and it turned my head, not just a little, but a good deal.You could not take up a newspaper, English, Scotch, or Irish, without finding in it one or more references to the“vest-pocket million-pounder”and his latest doings and saying.At first, in these mentions, I was at the bottom of the personal-gossip column;next, I was listed above the knights, next above the baronets, next above the barons, and so on, and so on, climbing steadily, as my notoriety augmented, until I reached the highest altitude possible, and there I remained, taking precedence of all dukes not royal, and of all ecclesiastics except the primate of all England.But mind, this was not fame;as yet I had achieved only notoriety.Then came the climaxing stroke—the accolade, so to speak—which in a single instant transmuted the perishable dross of notoriety into the enduring gold of fame:Punch caricatured me!Yes, I was a made man now;my place was established.I might be joked about still, but reverently, not hilariously, not rudely;I could be smiled at, but not laughed at.The time for that had gone by.Punch pictured me all a-flutter with rags, dickering with a beef-eater for the Tower of London.Well, you can imagine how it was with a young fellow who had never been taken notice of before, and now all of a sudden couldn’t say a thing that wasn’t taken up and repeated everywhere;couldn’t stir abroad without constantly overhearing the remark flying from lip to lip，“There he goes;that’s him!”couldn’t take his breakfast without a crowd to look on;couldn’t appear in an opera box without concentrating there the fire of a thousand lorgnettes.Why, I just swam in glory all day long—that is the amount of it.

You know, I even kept my old suit of rags, and every now and then appeared in them, so as to have the old pleasure of buying trifles, and being insulted, and then shooting the scoffer dead with the million-pound bill.But I couldn’t keep that up.The illustrated papers made the outfit so familiar that when I went out in it I was at once recognized and followed by a crowd, and if I attempted a purchase the man would offer me his whole shop on credit before I could pull my note on him.

About the tenth day of my fame I went to fulfil my duty to my flag by paying my respects to the American minister.He received me with the enthusiasm proper in my case, upbraided me for being so tardy in my duty, and said that there was only one way to get his forgiveness, and that was to take the seat at his dinner-party that night made vacant by the illness of one of his guests.I said I would, and we got to talking.It turned out that he and my father had been schoolmates in boyhood, Yale students together later, and always warm friends up to my father’s death.So then he required me to put in at his house all the odd time I might have to spare, and I was very willing, of course.

In fact, I was more than willing;I was glad.When the crash should come, he might somehow be able to save me from total destruction;I didn’t know how, but he might think of a way, maybe.I couldn’t venture to unbosom myself to him at this late date, a thing which I would have been quick to do in the beginning of this awful career of mine in London.No, I couldn’t venture it now;I was in too deep;that is, too deep for me to be risking revelations to so new a friend, though not clear beyond my depth, as I looked at it.Because, you see, with all my borrowing, I was carefully keeping within my means—I mean within my salary.Of course, I couldn’t know what my salary was going to be, but I had a good enough basis for an estimate in the fact, that if I won the bet I was to have choice of any situation in that rich old gentleman’s gift provided I was competent—and I should certainly prove competent;I hadn’t any doubt about that.And as to the bet, I wasn’t worrying about that;I had always been lucky.Now my estimate of the salary was six hundred to a thousand a year;say, six hundred for the first year, and so on up year by year, till I struck the upper figure by proved merit.At present I was only in debt for my first year’s salary.Everybody had been trying to lend me money, but I had fought off the most of them on one pretext or another;so this indebtedness represented only £300 borrowed money, the other £300 represented my keep and my purchases.I believed my second year’s salary would carry me through the rest of the month if I went on being cautious and economical, and I intended to look sharply out for that.My month ended, my employer back from his journey, I should be all right once more, for I should at once divide the two years’salary among my creditors by assignment, and get right down to my work.

It was a lovely dinner-party of fourteen.The Duke and Duchess of Shoreditch, and their daughter the Lady Anne-Grace-Eleanor-Celeste-and-so-forth-and-so-forth-de-Bohun, the Earl and Countess of Newgate, Viscount Cheapside, Lord and Lady Blatherskite, some untitled people of both sexes, the minister and his wife and daughter, and his daughter’s visiting friend, an English girl of twenty-two, named Portia Langham, whom I fell in love with in two minutes, and she with me—I could see it without glasses.There was still another guest, an American—but I am a little ahead of my story.While the people were still in the drawing-room, whetting up for dinner, and coldly inspecting the late comers, the servant announced:“Mr.Lloyd Hastings.”

The moment the usual civilities were over, Hastings caught sight of me, and came straight with cordially outstretched hand;then stopped short when about to shake, and said, with an embarrassed look:“I beg your pardon, sir, I thought I knew you.”

“Why, you do know me, old fellow.”

“No.Are you the—the—”

“Vest-pocket monster?I am, indeed.Don’t be afraid to call me by my nickname;I’m used to it.”

“Well, well, well, this is a surprise.Once or twice I’ve seen your own name coupled with the nickname, but it never occurred to me that you could be the Henry Adams referred to.Why, it isn’t six months since you were clerking away for Blake Hopkins in Frisco on a salary, and sitting up nights on an extra allowance, helping me arrange and verify the Gould and Curry Extension papers and statistics.The idea of your being in London, and a vast millionaire, and a colossal celebrity!Why, it’s the Arabian Nights come again.Man, I can’t take it in at all;can’t realize it;give me time to settle the whirl in my head.”

“The fact is, Lloyd, you are no worse off than I am.I can’t realize it myself.”

“Dear me, it is stunning, now isn’t it?Why, it’s just three months today since we went to the Miners’restaurant—”

“No;the What Cheer.”

“Right, it was the What Cheer;went there at two in the morning, and had a chop and coffee after a hard six-hours grind over those Extension papers, and I tried to persuade you to come to London with me, and offered to get leave of absence for you and pay all your expenses, and give you something over if I succeeded in making the sale;and you would not listen to me, said I wouldn’t succeed, and you couldn’t afford to lose the run of business and be no end of time getting the hang of things again when you got back home.And yet here you are.How odd it all is!How did you happen to come, and whatever did give you this incredible start?”

“Oh, just an accident.It’s a long story—a romance, a body may say.I’ll tell you all about it, but not now.”

“When?”

“The end of this month.”

“That’s more than a fortnight yet.It’s too much of a strain on a person’s curiosity.Make it a week.”

“I can’t.You’ll know why, by and by.But how’s the trade getting along?”

His cheerfulness vanished like a breath, and he said with a sigh:“You were a true prophet, Hal, a true prophet.I wish I hadn’t come.I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But you must.You must come and stop with me to-night, when we leave here, and tell me all about it.”

“Oh, may I?Are you in earnest?”and the water showed in his eyes.

“Yes;I want to hear the whole story, every word.”

“I’m so grateful!Just to find a human interest once more, in some voice and in some eye, in me and affairs of mine, after what I’ve been through here—lord!I could go down on my knees for it!”

He gripped my hand hard, and braced up, and was all right and lively after that for the dinner—which didn’t come off.No;the usual thing happened, the thing that is always happening under that vicious and aggravating English system—the matter of precedence couldn’t be settled, and so there was no dinner.Englishmen always eat dinner before they go out to dinner, because they know the risks they are running;but nobody ever warns the stranger, and so he walks placidly into trap.Of course, nobody was hurt this time, because we had all been to dinner, none of us being novices excepting Hastings, and he having been informed by the minister at the time that he invited him that in deference to the English custom he had not provided any dinner.Everybody took a lady and processioned down to the dining-room, because it is usual to go through the motions;but there the dispute began.The Duke of Shoreditch wanted to take precedence, and sit at the head of the table, holding that he outranked a minister who represented merely a nation and not a monarch;but I stood for my rights, and refused to yield.In the gossip column I ranked all dukes not royal, and said so, and claimed precedence of this one.It couldn’t be settled, of course, struggle as we might and did, he finally（and injudiciously）trying to play birth and antiquity, and I“seeing”his Conqueror and“raising”him with Adam, whose direct posterity I was, as shown by my name, while he was of a collateral branch, as shown by his, and by his recent Norman origin;so we all processioned back to the drawing-room again and had a perpendicular lunch—plate of sardines and a strawberry, and you group yourself and stand up and eat it.Here the religion of precedence is not so strenuous;the two persons of highest rank chuck up a shilling, the one that wins has first go at his strawberry, and the loser gets the shilling.The next two chuck up, then the next two, and so on.After refreshment, tables were brought, and we all played cribbage, sixpence a game.The English never play any game for amusement.If they can’t make something or lose something—they don’t care which—they won’t play.

We had a lovely time;certainly two of us had, Miss Langham and I.I was so bewitched with her that I couldn’t count my hands if they went above a double sequence;and when I struck home I never discovered it, and started up the outside row again, and would have lost the game every time, only the girl did the same, she being in just my condition, you see;and consequently neither of us ever got out, or cared to wonder why we didn’t;we only just knew we were happy, and didn’t wish to know anything else, and didn’t want to be interrupted.And I told her—I did, indeed—told her I loved her;and she—well, she blushed till her hair turned red, but she liked it;she said she did.Oh, there was never such an evening!Every time I pegged I put on a postscript;every time she pegged she acknowledged receipt of it, counting the hands the same.Why, I couldn’t even say“Two for his heels”without adding，“My, how sweet you do look!”and—peeping out aslant from under her lashes, you know, so sweet and cunning.Oh, it was just too-too!

Well, I was perfectly honest and square with her;told her I hadn’t a cent in the world but just the million-pound note she’d heard so much talk about, and it didn’t belong to me, and that started her curiosity;and then I talked low, and told her the whole history right from the start, and it nearly killed her laughing.What in the nation she could find to laugh about I couldn’t see, but there it was;every half-minute some new detail would fetch her, and I would have to stop as much as a minute and a half to give her a chance to settle down again.Why, she laughed herself lame—she did, indeed;I never saw anything like it.I mean I never saw a painful story—a story of a person’s troubles and worries and fears—produce just that kind of effect before.So I loved her all the more, seeing she could be so cheerful when there wasn’t anything to be cheerful about;for I might soon need that kind of wife, you know, the way things looked.Of course, I told her we should have to wait a couple of years, till I could catch up on my salary;but she didn’t mind that, only she hoped I would be as careful as possible in the matter of expenses, and not let them run the least risk of trenching on our third year’s pay.Then she began to get a little worried, and wondered if we were making any mistake, and starting the salary on a higher figure for the first year than I would get.This was good sense, and it made me feel a little less confident than I had been feeling before;but it gave me a good business idea, and I brought it frankly out.

“Portia, dear, would you mind going with me that day, when I confront those old gentlemen?”

She shrank a little, but said:“N-o;if my being with you would help hearten you.But—would it be quite proper, do you think?”

“No, I don’t know that it would—in fact, I’m afraid it wouldn’t;but, you see, there’s so much dependent upon it that—”

“Then I’ll go anyway, proper or improper，”she said, with a beautiful and generous enthusiasm.“Oh, I shall be so happy to think I’m helping!”

“Helping, dear?Why, you’ll be doing it all.You’re so beautiful and so lovely and so winning, that with you there I can pile our salary up till I break those good old fellows, and they’ll never have the heart to struggle.”

Sho!you should have seen the rich blood mount, and her happy eyes shine!

“You wicked flatterer!There isn’t a word of truth in what you say, but still I’ll go with you.Maybe it will teach you not to expect other people to look with your eyes.”

Were my doubts dissipated?Was my confidence restored?You may judge by this fact:privately I raised my salary to twelve hundred the first year on the spot.But I didn’t tell her;I saved it for a surprise.

All the way home I was in the clouds, Hastings talking, I not hearing a word.When he and I entered my parlor, he brought me to myself with his fervent appreciations of my manifold comforts and luxuries.

“Let me just stand here a little and look my fill.Dear me!it’s a palace—it’s just a palace!And in it everything a body could desire, including cosy coal fire and supper standing ready.Henry, it doesn’t merely make me realize how rich you are;it makes me realize, to the bone, to the marrow, how poor I am—how poor I am, and how miserable, how defeated, routed, annihilated!”

Plague take it!this language gave me the cold shudders.It scared me broad awake, and made me comprehend that I was standing on a half-inch crust, with a crater underneath.I didn’t know I had been dreaming—that is, I hadn’t been allowing myself to know it for a while back;but now—oh, dear!Deep in debt, not a cent in the world, a lovely girl’s happiness or woe in my hands, and nothing in front of me but a salary which might never—oh, would never—materialize!Oh, oh, oh!I am ruined past hope!nothing can save me!

“Henry, the mere unconsidered drippings of your daily income would—”

“Oh, my daily income!Here, down with this hot Scotch, and cheer up your soul.Here’s with you!Or, no—you’re hungry;sit down and—”

“Not a bite for me;I’m past it.I can’t eat, these days;but I’ll drink with you till I drop.Come!”

“Barrel for barrel, I’m with you!Ready?Here we go!Now, then, Lloyd, unreel your story while I brew.”

“Unreel it?What, again?”

“Again?What do you mean by that?”

“Why, I mean do you want to hear it over again?”

“Do I want to hear it over again?This is a puzzler.Wait;don’t take any more of that liquid.You don’t need it.”

“Look here, Henry, you alarm me.Didn’t I tell you the whole story on the way here?”

“You?”

“Yes, I.”

“I’ll be hanged if I heard a word of it.”

“Henry, this is a serious thing.It troubles me.What did you take up yonder at the minister’s?”

Then it all flashed on me, and I owned up like a man.

“I took the dearest girl in this world—prisoner!”

So then he came with a rush, and we shook, and shook, and shook till our hands ached;and he didn’t blame me for not having heard a word of a story which had lasted while we walked three miles.He just sat down then, like the patient, good fellow he was, and told it all over again.Synopsized, it amounted to this:He had come to England with what he thought was a grand opportunity;he had an“option”to sell the Gould and Curry Extension for the“locators”of it, and keep all he could get over a million dollars.He had worked hard, had pulled every wire he knew of, had left no honest expedient untried, had spent nearly all the money he had in the world, had not been able to get a solitary capitalist to listen to him, and his option would run out at the end of the month.In a word, he was ruined.Then he jumped up and cried out:“Henry, you can save me!You can save me, and you’re the only man in the universe that can.Will you do it?Won’t you do it?”

“Tell me how.Speak out, my boy.”

“Give me a million and my passage home for my‘option’!Don’t, don’t refuse!”

I was in a kind of agony.I was right on the point of coming out with the words，“Lloyd, I’m a pauper myself—absolutely penniless, and in debt!”But a white-hot idea came flaming through my head, and I gripped my jaws together, and calmed myself down till I was as cold as a capitalist.Then I said, in a commercial and self-possessed way:“I will save you, Lloyd—”

“Then I’m already saved!God be merciful to you forever!If ever I—”

“Let me finish, Lloyd.I will save you, but not in that way;for that would not be fair to you, after your hard work, and the risks you’ve run.I don’t need to buy mines;I can keep my capital moving, in a commercial center like London, without that;it’s what I’m at, all the time;but here is what I’ll do.I know all about that mine, of course;I know its immense value, and can swear to it if anybody wishes it.You shall sell out inside of the fortnight for three millions cash, using my name freely, and we’ll divide, share and share alike.”

Do you know, he would have danced the furniture to kindling-wood in his insane joy, and broken everything on the place, if I hadn’t tripped him up and tied him.

Then he lay there, perfectly happy, saying:“I may use your name!Your name—think of it!Man, they’ll flock in droves, these rich Londoners;they’ll fight for that stock!I’m a made man, I’m a made man forever, and I’ll never forget you as long as I live!”

In less than twenty-four hours London was abuzz!I hadn’t anything to do, day after day, but sit at home, and say to all comers:“Yes;I told him to refer to me.I know the man, and I know the mine.His character is above reproach, and the mine is worth far more than he asks for it.”

Meantime I spent all my evenings at the minister’s with Portia.I didn’t say a word to her about the mine;I saved it for a surprise.We talked salary;never anything but salary and love;sometimes love, sometimes salary, sometimes love and salary together.And my!the interest the minister’s wife and daughter took in our little affair, and the endless ingenuities they invented to save us from interruption, and to keep the minister in the dark and unsuspicious—well, it was just lovely of them!

When the month was up at last, I had a million dollars to my credit in the London and County Bank, and Hastings was fixed in the same way.Dressed at my level best, I drove by the house in Portland Place, judged by the look of things that my birds were home again, went on towards the minister’s and got my precious, and we started back, talking salary with all our might.She was so excited and anxious that it made her just intolerably beautiful.I said:“Dearie, the way you’re looking it’s a crime to strike for a salary a single penny under three thousand a year.”

“Henry, Henry, you’ll ruin us!”

“Don’t you be afraid.Just keep up those looks, and trust to me.It’ll all come out right.”

So, as it turned out, I had to keep bolstering up her courage all the way.She kept pleading with me, and saying:“Oh, please remember that if we ask for too much we may get no salary at all;and then what will become of us, with no way in the world to earn our living?”

We were ushered in by that same servant, and there they were, the two old gentlemen.Of course, they were surprised to see that wonderful creature with me, but I said:“It’s all right, gentlemen;she is my future stay and helpmate.”

And I introduced them to her, and called them by name.It didn’t surprise them;they knew I would know enough to consult the directory.They seated us, and were very polite to me, and very solicitous to relieve her from embarrassment, and put her as much at her ease as they could.Then I said:“Gentlemen, I am ready to report.”

“We are glad to hear it，”said my man，“for now we can decide the bet which my brother Abel and I made.If you have won for me, you shall have any situation in my gift.Have you the million-pound note?”

“Here it is, sir，”and I handed it to him.

“I’ve won!”he shouted, and slapped Abel on the back.“Now what do you say, brother?”

“I say he did survive, and I’ve lost twenty thousand pounds.I never would have believed it.”

“I’ve a further report to make，”I said，“and a pretty long one.I want you to let me come soon, and detail my whole month’s history;and I promise you it’s worth hearing.Meantime, take a look at that.”

“What, man!Certificate of deposit for £1，000，000.Is it yours?”

“Mine.I earned it by thirty days’judicious use of that little loan you let me have.And the only use I made of it was to buy trifles and offer the bill in change.”

“Come, this is astonishing!It’s incredible, man!”

“Never mind, I’ll prove it.Don’t take my word unsupported.”

But now Portia’s turn was come to be surprised.Her eyes were spread wide, and she said:“Henry, is that really your money?Have you been fibbing to me?”

“I have, indeed, dearie.But you’ll forgive me, I know.”

She put up an arch pout, and said:“Don’t you be so sure.You are a naughty thing to deceive me so!”

“Oh, you’ll get over it, sweetheart, you’ll get over it;it was only fun, you know.Come, let’s be going.”

“But wait, wait!The situation, you know.I want to give you the situation，”said my man.

“Well，”I said，“I’m just as grateful as I can be, but really I don’t want one.”

“But you can have the very choicest one in my gift.”

“Thanks again, with all my heart;but I don’t even want that one.”

“Henry, I’m ashamed of you.You don’t half thank the good gentleman.May I do it for you?”

“Indeed, you shall, dear, if you can improve it.Let us see you try.”

She walked to my man, got up in his lap, put her arm round his neck, and kissed him right on the mouth.Then the two old gentlemen shouted with laughter, but I was dumfounded, just petrified, as you may say.Portia said:“Papa, he has said you haven’t a situation in your gift that he’d take;and I feel just as hurt as—”

“My darling, is that your papa?”

“Yes;he’s my step-papa, and the dearest one that ever was.You understand now, don’t you, why I was able to laugh when you told me at the minister’s, not knowing my relationships, what trouble and worry papa’s and Uncle Abel’s scheme was giving you?”

Of course, I spoke right up now, without any fooling, and went straight to the point.

“Oh, my dearest dear sir, I want to take back what I said.You have got a situation open that I want.”

“Name it.”

“Son-in-law.”

“Well, well, well!But you know, if you haven’t ever served in that capacity, you, of course, can’t furnish recommendations of a sort to satisfy the conditions of the contract, and so—”

“Try me—oh, do, I beg of you!Only just try me thirty or forty years, and if—”

“Oh, well, all right;it’s but a little thing to ask, take her along.”

Happy, we two?There are not words enough in the unabridged to describe it.And when London got the whole history, a day or two later, of my month’s adventures with that bank-note, and how they ended, did London talk, and have a good time?Yes.

My Portia’s papa took that friendly and hospitable bill back to the Bank of England and cashed it;then the Bank canceled it and made him a present of it, and he gave it to us at our wedding, and it has always hung in its frame in the sacredest place in our home ever since.For it gave me my Portia.But for it I could not have remained in London, would not have appeared at the minister’s, never should have met her.And so I always say，“Yes, it’s a million-pounder, as you see;but it never made but one purchase in its life, and then got the article for only about a tenth part of its value.”

百万英镑

二十七岁那年，我是旧金山一位矿业经纪人的办事员，对证券交易的所有细节都非常内行。我孤身立世，除了自己的才智和清白名声外，无所依靠；不过，就是这些使我最终踏上了发财之路，而且我对自己的前程踌躇满志。

星期六下午收盘后，时间就归我自己支配了，我习惯划着小帆船到海湾上打发时光。有一天，我冒险划得太远，漂到了大海上。正当夜幕降临，快要失去希望时，一艘开往伦敦的双桅横帆船救起了我。航程漫漫，伴有狂风暴雨。他们让我做普通水手，不拿工资干活，乘船旅行。到伦敦上岸时，我衣衫褴褛，口袋里只有一美元。这钱让我吃住了二十四小时。接下来的二十四小时，我就没吃没住了。

第二天上午大约十点，我衣衫褴褛，饿着肚子，沿着波特兰大街慢吞吞地拖着身子前行，这时一个保姆牵着一个孩子路过，孩子把一只只咬过一口的甘甜美味的大梨扔进了排水沟。不用说，我停住了脚步，充满渴望的目光紧紧盯着那个泥乎乎的宝贝。看着它，我直流口水，肚子咕咕叫，整个身心都在渴望得到这个宝贝。但是，每当我往前一步想去动手捡梨，总有一双眼睛看穿我的意图，这时我当然会挺直身子，假装若无其事，根本没有在意那只梨。同样的情形出现了一次又一次，我就是拿不到那只梨。我正要不顾一切、勇敢面对一切羞辱去抓起那只梨的时候，有人掀起了我身后的一扇窗，一位先生从里面说：“请进来。”

我被一个穿着华丽的仆人领进了一个豪华房间，那里坐着两位上了年纪的绅士。他们打发走仆人，让我坐下来。他们刚刚吃完早餐，看到剩菜剩汤，我简直无法自持，在食物面前几乎难以保持理智，但他们没有请我品尝，我只好尽可能忍受痛苦。

这里不久前刚发生过一件事，我过了好多天后才知道，我现在就把它告诉你。那老哥俩一直为一件事面红耳赤地争论了两天，最后他们同意通过打赌来一分高下，这是英国人解决一切问题的方式。

你会记得，英格兰银行曾经发行过两张一百万英镑面额的钞票，专门用于和某国进行公共交易时使用。由于某种原因，只有其中一张经使用后被注销，另一张仍躺在英格兰银行的金库里。而这哥俩聊着聊着，突发奇想：要是一个非常诚实、聪明伶俐、在伦敦漂泊无友可依的外乡人，除了有这一张百万英镑面额的钞票，身无分文，而且他无法证明这张钞票是他的，他的命运会怎样——哥哥说这个人会饿死，弟弟说不会饿死。哥哥说，他不可能在银行或其他任何地方花掉那张钞票，因为如果他那么做会当场被逮捕。所以，兄弟俩一直争执不休。后来弟弟说他愿出两万英镑打个赌：这个人靠那张百万英镑面额的钞票可以支撑三十天，也进不了牢房。哥哥同意打赌。弟弟就去英格兰银行买下了那张钞票。你明白，英国人就是那样，勇气十足。然后，他口述了一封信，他的一个职员用漂亮的字体誊清；随后，兄弟俩在窗边坐了整整一天，等待合适的人选，以便把这封信交给他。

他们看着一张张面孔从窗前经过，这些人不够聪明；有的虽聪明，但不够诚实；许多既聪明又诚实，但又不够穷；要么是够穷，但又不是外乡人。总有不尽之处，直到我走过来。他们都认为我符合所有条件，于是一致同意选我；而我正等着知道为什么他们要叫我进来。他们开始问一些有关我个人的问题，很快就弄清了我的来历。最后，他们告诉我，我正是他们要找的最合适的人选。我说，我由衷高兴，问他们的意图是什么。这时，他们其中一个递给我一个信封，说我会在里面找到答案。我正要打开，但他不让，要我带到住处后再仔细看，不要匆忙，也不要草率。我迷惑不解，想进一步谈论这件事，但他们不想。于是，我告辞，感觉受到了伤害和侮辱，显然我成了某个恶作剧的笑柄；然而，我不得不忍受，因为当时的处境使我无法对有钱有势的人的公开侮辱表示怨恨。

现在，我本可以捡起那只梨，当着全世界人的面吃下去，但它不见了踪影。因为这倒霉事，我已经失去了那只梨。想到这里，我就对那两个人没有了好感。一走到看不见那座房子的地方，我就打开了信封，看到里边装着钱！我可以告诉你，我对那两个人的看法立刻发生了变化！我一刻也没有耽搁，把信和钱塞进马甲口袋，撒腿向距离我最近的廉价饭店跑去。啊，我真是一顿海吃！最后，我再也吃不进去了，掏出那张钞票，展开来，只扫了一眼，差点昏倒。五百万美元！啊，这让我晕头转向。

我一定是坐在那里目瞪口呆，惊愕地盯着那张钞票，足足过了一分钟才回过神来。然后，我首先注意到的是饭店老板。他盯着那张钞票，也吓呆了。他正在全心全意地顶礼膜拜，但他好像手脚都不能动弹了。我立刻有了主意，做了在此唯一能做的合理事儿。我把那张钞票递向他，漫不经心地说：“请找零钱。”

紧接着，他恢复了常态，连声道歉说找不开这张大票，怎么也不肯接那张钞票。他很想看这张钞票，一直盯着它；他好像怎么看都饱不了眼福，但他畏畏缩缩地不敢碰它，好像它是非常神圣的东西，可怜的凡夫俗子不能摸它似的。我说：“要是给你带来不便，请原谅，但我也没办法。请找开吧，我没有别的钞票。”

但是，他说没关系，这点小钱可以先赊着，下次再收。我说，我可能很久不会再到这一带来，不过他说那也不要紧，他可以等，而且我想点什么就点什么，想什么时候来就什么时候来，想多久结就多久结。他说，他绝不会信不过像我这么有钱的先生，只不过我性情活泼，喜欢打扮成这样跟大家开个玩笑。这时，又一位顾客走了进来，老板示意我收起那张巨额钞票，然后恭恭敬敬地把我送出了门。我径直去那座房子找那哥俩，让他们趁警察没有把我抓起来之前，纠正已经犯下的这个错误，帮我做好这件事。我忐忑不安，事实上，提心吊胆，当然我绝对没错；然而，我熟悉人情世故，知道他们发现自己把一百万英镑面额的钞票当成一英镑钞票送给一个流浪汉后，会对我怒不可遏，而不会像他们应该做的那样抱怨自己眼神不好。走近那座房子时，我紧张的心情逐渐缓和下来，因为那里一片安静，这使我确信还没有人发现这个大错。我按响门铃。出来的还是原先那个仆人。我求见那两位先生。

“他们走了。”他用这类人常用的高傲冷漠的口气说道。

“走了？去哪里了？”

“旅行去了。”

“去哪里了呢？”

“我想，是去欧洲大陆了。”

“欧洲大陆？”

“是的，先生。”

“怎么走的——走的是哪条路？”

“我说不上来，先生。”

“他们什么时候回来？”

“他们说一个月后回来。”

“一个月！哦，这真糟糕！给我出个主意，看怎么给他们捎个信儿。这事儿非常重要。”

“我的确无能为力。我根本不知道他们去了哪里，先生。”

“那我必须见这家里的其他人。”

“家里人也走了，出国好几个月了——我想，是在埃及和印度。”

“伙计，出了个天大的错误。天黑前，他们就会回来。你告诉他们我来过这里好吗？告诉他们：我还会再来，直到这个错误纠正过来，他们不必担心。”

“只要他们回来，我就告诉他们，但我想他们不会回来。他们说过，你一小时后会来这里询问，让我必须告诉你一切正常，他们会准时回到这里等候你。”

我只好作罢，离开了那里。这葫芦里到底卖的是什么药！我真是晕头转向。“他们会准时回到这里”，这会是什么意思呢？噢，也许那封信可以解释。我把那封信给忘了。我掏出来，念了起来，信上是这样说的：

从你的面相可以看出，你是一个聪明诚实的人。我们猜想，你很穷，是外地人。你会发现信封里装有一笔钱。这笔钱借给你三十天，不要利息。期满时到这个房子报到。我拿你打了个赌。要是我打赢这个赌，你就可以得到我赠予的任何一个职位——也就是说，你能证明自己既熟悉又胜任的任何一个职位。

没有签名，没有地址，没有日期。

唉，真是掉进了一个圈套里！你们了解此前发生的一切，但我当时并不了解。对我来说，那简直就是一个高深莫测的不解之谜。我根本不知道这玩的是什么把戏，也不知道这对我是伤害还是仁慈。我走进公园，坐下来，想设法理清头绪，考虑该怎么办才好。

一小时后，我经过推理，得出了以下结论：

也许那两个人对我是好意，也许他们对我是恶意，这无法判断——随它去吧。他们是玩把戏、搞阴谋、做实验，还是其他什么事，我无法确定——随它去吧。他们拿我打了个赌。赌什么无法查明——随它去吧。这样就解决了这件事无法确定的部分，剩下的真实具体、实实在在的东西，肯定可以推测甚至确定无疑。要是我要求英格兰银行把这张钞票存到主人的账户，银行就会受理的，尽管我不认识这钞票的主人，但银行认识。不过，银行会问我钞票怎么会到了我的手里。要是我说实话，他们自然就会把我送进收容所；要是我撒谎，他们就会把我送进牢房；要是我设法把这张钞票存在任何地方或靠它借钱，结果也会一样。无论我是否愿意，我只能随身带着这个巨大负担，直到那两个人回来。尽管它对我没有用处，就像一把灰一样没有用处，可是我仍要一边乞讨生活，一边好好保管它。即使我想把它送人，也送不出去，因为无论是诚实的公民还是拦路的强盗，都绝不会收下，连动都不会动一下。那哥俩毫无风险。即使我把他们的钞票丢失或烧掉，他们也仍然没有风险，因为他们能挂失，银行会让他们分文不少；但其间，我不得不受一个月的苦，没有工资，也没有红利——除非我帮着赢了那场赌，得到那个许诺给我的职位。我想得到那个职位，他们这种人赠予的职位都值得争取。

我开始对那个职位浮想联翩。我的期望值开始升高。毫无疑问，薪水一定会不少。一个月后就开始上班，之后，我就会一帆风顺。不久，我感觉好极了。这时，我又沿街走了起来。看到一家裁缝店，我就产生了强烈的渴望，想脱掉身上的破衣服，重新给自己穿上体面的衣服。我能买得起吗？不能，除了一百万英镑，我在这世上一无所有。于是，我强迫自己走了过去。但是，我又马上折了回来。那种诱惑不断地、无情地困扰着我。在那场激烈的心理斗争中，我一定在那家裁缝店门前来来回回往返了六趟。我终于做出了让步，我不得不让步。我问他们手边是否有顾客试过的不合身的衣服。我问的那个伙计朝另一个点点头，没有回答我。我向他点头示意的那个伙计走去。这个伙计又向另一个人点点头，也没有说话。我向那个人走了过去，他说：“马上就来接待你。”

我等着。直到做完手头的事儿，他才把我带进后面的一个房间，从一堆挑剩的衣服中翻了一遍，给我挑了一套最差劲儿的。我穿上这套衣服。衣服不合身，毫不起眼，但它是新的，我渴望得到这套衣服，所以我不挑剔，我有些缺乏自信地说：“请行个方便，看你们能不能等几天，我再给钱。我身上没有带零钱。”

那个人摆出一副极其刻薄的嘴脸，说：“噢，你没有带零钱？啊，当然，我想你也没有带。我还以为像你这样的先生只会带大票呢。”

我被惹火了，说：“我的朋友，你不该总拿穿戴来评判陌生人。我完全能买得起这套衣服，我只是不想麻烦你们找开一张大票。”

他稍微改变了态度，但还是端着架子。他说：“我不是有意出口伤人，既然你出言不逊，我倒要讲几句，你匆匆下结论说我们找不开你带的什么大票，那真是多管闲事。恰恰相反，我们能找开。”

我把那张钞票递给他，说：“噢，很好，我道歉。”

他面带微笑接了过去，这是一个弥漫全脸的夸张笑容，上面嵌着一条条折叠纹、皱纹、螺旋纹，看上去就像你往池塘里扔了一块砖头；随后，他瞥了一眼那张钞票，这笑容一下子凝固，黯然失色了，就像你在维苏威火山边的小平地上看到的波浪状、蠕虫般的凝固熔岩。我以前从来没有见过那样被定格、久久不变的笑脸。这个人站在那里，捏着钞票，就这样看着。老板匆匆走过来，看出了什么事，他神采奕奕地说：“啊，怎么了？有什么问题吗？想要点什么？”

我说：“没有什么问题。我正在等着找零钱。”

“嗨，嗨！找给他钱。托德，找给他钱。”

托德反驳说：“找给他钱！说得容易，先生，你自己看看这张钞票。”

老板看了一眼，低声吹了一声动听的口哨，然后奔向那堆挑剩的衣服，开始左翻右找，一直情绪激动地说着话，像在自言自语：“把这样一套拿不出手的衣服卖给一位非同寻常的百万富翁！托德是个傻瓜，天生的傻瓜。总是做这样的事儿。把一个个百万富翁都从这个地方赶走了，因为他分不清谁是百万富翁，谁是流浪汉，从来都分不清。啊，我找的就是这套。先生，请把那些玩意脱了，扔进火里吧。请赏光穿上这件衬衫和这套衣服。正合适，恰到好处——简单、华美、适中，完全是王公贵族的气派。这是给一位外国亲王定做的——先生，你可能认识他，就是尊贵的哈利法克斯大公国的亲王殿下。他不得不把这套衣服留在这里，另外定做了一套丧服，因为他的母亲都快不行了——但她没有死。不过，这没关系，我们总不能让事情按照我们的方式进行——也就是，它们的方式——嗨！裤子正好，正合你的身材，好看极了。先生，现在穿上马甲，啊哈，也合适！再穿上外衣——天哪！现在看哪！整个——都非常完美！我干了一辈子，从来没有像今天这么风光，这么出彩呢。”

我表示满意。

“完全正确，先生，一点不错。我必须说，这先凑合着穿。不过，你等着看我们按你的尺码给你做的衣服吧。过来，托德，拿本子和笔记下来。裤长三十二英寸——”如此等等。还没等我插话，他就已经给我量完了，而且正在吩咐做晚礼服、晨礼服、衬衫和各种各样的衣服。当有机会插话时，我说：“我亲爱的先生，我不能定做这些衣服，除非你能无限期地等或换开这张钞票。”

“无限期！这话没劲，先生，这话没劲。永远——这才像话，先生。托德，赶紧把这些衣服做出来，然后立刻送到这位先生的府上。让那些不起眼的顾客们等着。记下这位先生的地址——”

“我就要换地方了。哪天我顺便来访时会留新地址的。”

“好得很，先生，好得很。等一会儿——让我送您出去，先生。好——再见，先生，再见。”

你应该明白一系列随之而来的将是怎样的情景了吧？我想买什么就买什么，然后就让对方找钱。不到一周，我出手阔绰，把所需的一切舒适的生活用品和奢侈品统统买齐，并住在了汉诺威广场一家豪华内部旅馆。我在那里吃晚餐，但早饭还是到哈里斯家的小吃店去吃，我就是在那里靠一百万英镑的钞票吃的第一顿饭。我成全了哈里斯。消息四处传开，说马甲口袋里装着百万英镑钞票的那个外国怪人是这个地方的守护神。这就够了。这里原先是一家勉强维持营业的小吃店，现在已经名声远扬、顾客爆满。哈里斯感激不尽，非要借钱给我不可，而且不容我拒绝；于是，尽管我一贫如洗，但我有钱花，生活过得像个阔佬，像个大人物。我断定，总有一天会崩溃，但我现在已经下水，不拼命游过去，必定会沉。你明白，这本来纯粹是一件荒唐事，但仅仅有了这种迫在眉睫的危险因素，事态竟产生了严肃的一面、清醒的一面，对了，还有悲哀的一面。到了夜里，这悲剧的成分总是在黑暗中走上前来，总是警告我，总是威胁我，所以，我唉声叹气，辗转反侧，夜不能寐。但是，到了照射出光芒的白天，这些悲剧因素就会烟消云散、无影无踪。我洋洋得意，高兴得晕头转向，可以说像喝醉了酒一样。

自然而然，我成了这个世界大都会的名人之一，这使我感到骄傲，不只是一点儿，而是十分。你拿起报纸，无论是英格兰的、苏格兰的，还是爱尔兰的，都能看到一条或更多条有关“背心口袋装有百万英镑者”和他最新言行的消息。起初，这些有关我的消息放在杂谈栏的底部；接下来，我就名列爵士之上，随后就名列准男爵之上，再往后又名列男爵之上，如此等等，我的名气越来越大了，位置也越升越高，直至我达到可能达到的更高位置，并留在那里，居于非王室的所有公爵之上，也居于全英大主教以外的所有神职人员之上。但请记住，这不是名望，至今，我只是得到了名气。这时，具有转折性的一件事来临了，可以说像骑士受勋一样。一时间，我那昙花一现的名气变成了金子般的不朽声望：《笨拙》周报把我画进了漫画！是的，我现在稳操胜券，地位确立。也许还有人拿我开玩笑，但都毕恭毕敬，既不嬉闹，也不粗鲁；尽管可能有人笑我，但不是嘲笑，那样的时光过去了。《笨拙》周报把我画得衣服破烂，随风飘扬，正跟伦敦塔的一个卫兵讨价还价。啊，你可以想象一个年轻人以前从来没有人注意，突然之间，他说的每句话都会被记下来，到处传播；无论他走到哪里，都会不断听到人们奔走相告：“他去那里了，就是他！”他吃早饭都有人群围观；他在剧院包厢一露面，上千只望远镜就会火辣辣地对准那里。啊，我一天到晚都沉浸在荣耀之中——总之就是这样。

你知道，我还留着那套破衣服，不时地穿着出去，为的是享受一下旧日买零碎东西时的乐趣，先是受到侮辱，然后用那张百万英镑钞票把嘲笑者毙掉。但是，我这种乐趣维持不下去了。报纸上的漫画把我的那身行头画得尽人皆知，所以每当我穿着它出去，就有一群人马上认出来，跟在后面；要是我想买东西，还没等我掏出那张钞票，老板就愿意把整个店铺都赊给我。

获得名望后大约第十天，我去拜访美国公使，履行我对祖国的职责。他按照我的身份排场，热情接待了我，责备我这么久才来履行自己的职责，说只有一种办法可以得到他的原谅，那就是出席他当晚的宴会，有一位客人生病缺席，由我替补这位客人坐上空缺的席位。我说好的，于是我们开始聊了起来。原来他和我的父亲从小是同学，后来又一起上耶鲁大学，直到我的父亲去世，他们始终是亲密的朋友。

因此，他要求我只要一有空闲，就到他家里来，我当然非常愿意。

事实上，我不仅愿意，而且非常高兴。当大祸临头时，说不定他能救我，使我免受灭顶之灾。尽管我不知道他怎么救我，但也许他能想出一个办法。要是在伦敦刚开始碰到这件倒霉事时，我会马上对他吐露心事，但现在为时已晚，我不能冒这个险，不，我现在不能冒这个险。我陷得太深了，也就是说，深到不敢冒险对一位新结识的朋友说明真相。不过，这件事到底会发展到什么地步，我自己也没有把握。你知道，尽管我处处借钱，但我小心翼翼不让数额超过我的收入——我是说，不超过我的那份薪水。当然，我不可能知道那份薪水将会有多少，但我有充分依据推测这样一个结果，那就是，要是我打赢这个赌，我就会有权选择那位富有的老先生赠送的我能胜任的任何职位，而且我肯定会胜任。我对此毫不怀疑。而说到他们打的那个赌，我并不担心，我一向走运。现在我估计薪水是每年六百到一千英镑，也就是说，第一年六百，然后逐年上涨，直至凭借我那被证实的能力达到的数额。现在我只欠第一年的薪水。尽管人人都想借给我钱，但我找各种借口谢绝了大多数人，所以，我欠的债只有借来的三百英镑，另外三百英镑就是拖欠的生活费和购物费。我相信，要是我继续精打细算，我第二年的薪水就会帮我度过这个月剩下的日子，而且我要严加注意这一点。这个月结束，我的老板旅行回来，我就万事大吉了，因为我可以马上用两年的薪水还清债主们的账，然后直接投入工作。

这是一次愉快的十四人宴会。肖尔迪奇公爵夫妇、他们的女儿安妮-格蕾丝-埃莉诺-希莱斯特-等等-等等-德-博亨女士、纽格特伯爵夫妇、切普赛德男爵、布拉瑟斯凯特勋爵夫妇，几对没有爵位的夫妇、公使夫妇和女儿，还有公使女儿的来访朋友——一位二十二岁的英国姑娘，名叫波西娅·朗姆。不到两分钟，我就爱上了这位姑娘，她也爱上了我——这一点我不戴眼镜也能看出来。还有一位客人，是一个美国人——但我的叙述有点儿提前了。大家聚集在客厅里准备着胃口等待入席用餐，一边冷静观察后到的客人，这时仆人通报：“劳埃德·赫斯廷斯先生到。”

惯常的礼仪一结束，赫斯廷斯就看见了我，热忱地伸出手，径直走了过来，正要握手，他突然停住了，一脸尴尬地说：“对不起，先生，我还以为认识你呢。”

“啊，你真的认识我，老兄。”

“不。你是——是——”

“怀揣百万英镑的怪人？我的确是。别怕叫我的绰号，我都习惯了。”

“说得好，说得好，说得好，真想不到。有一两次我看到你的名字和这个绰号连在一起，但我绝没有想到你会是他们提到的那个亨利·亚当斯。啊，六个月前，你还靠薪水在旧金山给布莱克·霍普金斯当办事员，为了挣加班费常常熬夜，帮我整理、核实古尔德和柯里矿业公司的扩展文件和统计数字。没想到你居然到了伦敦，成了一个阔绰的百万富翁、一个大名人！啊，这真是又来了一次天方夜谭。伙计，我对此根本无法理解，搞不明白。给我点时间，让我混乱的头脑平静下来。”

“劳埃德，事实上，你并不比我差。我自己也不明白。”

“哎呀，这真让人吃惊，难道不是吗？啊，距我们那次上矿工饭店吃饭才三个月——”

“不，是快活林。”

“对，是快活林。深夜两点去的那里，为那些扩展文件苦熬了六个小时之后，吃了一份牛排，喝了一杯咖啡。我想说服你跟我一起来伦敦，还主动要替你请假，为你出全部费用，要是我做成那笔买卖，还会给你好处。可你不愿听我的，说我不会成功，说要是你停下手头的工作，等回来时就会发现再熟悉各项业务，要花没完没了的时间。可你却在这里。这一切真是出乎意料啊！你是怎么来的，到底是什么让你有了这样惊人的地位？”

“啊，纯属偶然。说来话长——可以说是一个传奇。我会统统告诉你，但现在不行。”

“什么时候吃？”

“这个月底。”

“那还要两周多。这对于一个满心好奇的人来说太难熬了。变成一周吧。”

“不行。不久以后，你会知道是什么原因的。你的生意怎么样？”

他的高兴劲顿时烟消云散，他叹了口气说：“亨利，你真是预言家，真正的预言家。我真希望自己没有来。我不想谈这件事。”

“一定得谈。今天晚上离开这里时，你务必跟我走，跟我待在一起，全都告诉我。”

“噢，可以吗？你这话当真？”说着，他的眼里涌出了泪水。

“是的，我要听整个故事，一字不落。”

“非常感谢！我在这里经历了所有的一切之后，竟发现还有人重新对我和我的遭遇感兴趣。上帝啊！为了这个，我真可以下跪来表达我的感激之情！”

他用劲握住我的一只手，振作起了精神。之后，他状态良好、精神饱满，准备入席，虽然宴会还没有开始。不，常见的事儿发生了。按照荒唐、该死的英国式规矩，这种事儿总会发生——座次先后问题解决不了，宴会就开不成。英国人出去赴宴前，总是先吃点儿东西，因为他们知道自己在冒什么风险，但是，没有人告诫外来客，所以外来客会心平气和地走进陷阱。当然，这次没有人受到伤害，因为我们都赴过宴，除了赫斯廷斯，谁都不是新手，赫斯廷斯接到邀请时公使已告知他，按照英国人的习惯，他不提供正餐。每个人都带着一位女士，鱼贯进入餐厅，因为通常都是这样。但是，争论就此开始了。肖尔迪希公爵想走在前面，坐在首席，坚持认为他的地位高于公使，因为公使仅仅代表一个国家，而不是一个君主。然而，我坚持自己的权利，拒绝让步。在《人物杂谈》栏里，我的位置高过非皇室的所有公爵，并且我也是这样说的，声称有权坐这个席位。尽管我们极力争执，但解决不了问题，最后他（有欠考虑地）想抬出他的出身和先人来炫耀，我看穿他要声称自己是征服者威廉的后代，就向他提起亚当，说我是亚当的直系后代，从我的姓可以看出来，他则是旁支，不仅从他的姓可以看出来，而且可以从他晚期的诺曼人血统看出来。于是，我们都又鱼贯回到客厅，在那里站着吃一盘沙丁鱼，一份草莓，自己结伴，站起来吃。这里对座次的追求不是那么积极了；两位最尊贵的客人抛掷硬币，赢者先吃草莓，输者得到那枚硬币。接下来再来两位继续抛掷，然后再轮到后面的两位，依此类推。吃完点心后，搬过桌子，我们都打起了牌，每局六便士。英国人从来不为娱乐而玩任何游戏。要是他们不能赢点什么或输点什么——他们不在乎输赢——他们是不会玩的。

我们度过了一段愉快时光。当然是我们——我和朗姆小姐度过了一段愉快时光。我对她神魂颠倒，只要手里的牌超过两顺，我就数不清了；我的分到了顶，我也发现不了，又从外面的一排插起，这样肯定局局都会输，只是那个姑娘也和我一样出牌。你明白，因此，我们俩都不能胜出，也不喜欢去想为什么不能胜出；我们只知道我们都很高兴，其他的一切我们都不想知道，也不想被人打搅。于是，我告诉她——我真的告诉她——告诉她我爱她；她——啊，她羞得连头发根都红了，但她喜欢这样，她说她喜欢。噢，从来没有过如此美妙的夜晚！每次算分时，我就要加上几句赞美她的话；每次她算分时，都同样数牌，也会附和我表达谢意。啊，即使我说“跟两张牌”，也要加上一句：“啊呀，你看上去真可爱！”她会说：“十五点得两分，十五点得四分，十五点得六分，加一对是八分，再加八分是十六分——你是这样认为吗？”从她的眼睫毛下面瞟了我一眼，你知道，是那么的甜美，那么的可爱。噢，真是太妙了！

我对她非常诚实坦率。我告诉她说，我没有一分钱，只有一张她曾经听说过、人们议论纷纷的百万英镑钞票，而且这张钞票不是我的，这使她产生了好奇心，于是，我就压低声音，从头到尾给她讲了整个经过，差点儿把她笑死。我不明白她究竟笑什么，但她的确在笑。每隔半分钟，某个新的细节就会引她发笑，我只好停下来一两分钟，给她机会让她再次平静下来。啊，她笑得东倒西歪——她真是这样，我还从来没有见过这种情况。我是说我以前从来没有见过一个痛苦的故事——一个人烦恼、忧虑和担心的故事——居然有这种效果。所以，看到她在没有什么值得高兴的事时还能这么高兴，我更加爱她了。要知道，按照当时的情况来看，我说不定马上需要这么一位太太。当然，我也告诉她，我们还得等两年，直到我用自己的薪水请还了所有的旧账。但是，她对此并不在乎，只希望我尽可能在开支问题上小心，绝不让第三年的薪水也用来偿还债务。随后，她开始有点儿担心，她想知道我们是否会出错，把第一年的起薪估计得比我应该得到的高。这很有见地，所以这使我没有以前那样自信了，这也使我想起了一个好点子。于是，我就坦率地说了出来：

“波西娅，亲爱的，我和两位老先生见面那天，你介意跟我一起去吗？”

她有点儿迟疑，但还是说：“不介意，要是我跟你在一切能帮助你鼓气的话。可是——你认为这样真的合适吗？”

“呃，我不知道合不合适——事实上，我担心会不合适。可是，你明白，你去不去，关系重大——”

“那么，无论合不合适，我都要去，”她美丽大方热情地说。“噢，一想到能帮上忙，我就非常高兴！”

“帮忙？亲爱的，啊，你会完全起作用的。你这么美丽，这么可爱，这么迷人，所以跟你一起去那里，我就可以要求把我的薪水往高提，让那好心的老哥俩破产，他们也绝不忍心反驳。”

当然！你应该看到她满面通红，眼睛里闪出幸福的光芒！

“你这顽皮的马屁精！你说的没有一句实话，但我还是跟你一起去。也许这会给你个教训，别指望别人会和你一样看人。”

我的疑虑打消了吗？我的自信恢复了吗？你可以根据下面这个事实来判断：我当场把第一年的薪水暗自提高到了一千二百英镑。但是，我没有告诉她，我要留着给她一个惊喜。

回家的一路上，我像走在云端，赫斯廷斯说着话，我一句也没有听进去。我和他走进我的客厅时，他对各种各样舒适的用品和精美的物品大加赞赏，才使我醒过神来。

“让我在这里站一小会儿，饱饱眼福。哎呀！这真是一座宫殿——就是宫殿！一个人希望得到的一切，包括温暖舒适的煤火和备好的晚餐，应有尽有。亨利，这不只是让我明白了你是多么富有，也使我彻头彻尾地明白了我是多么贫穷。我是多么贫穷，多么不幸，多么失败，一败涂地，彻底完蛋！”

该死！这种说法让我打了个冷战，吓得我完全醒来，让我意识了自己正站在半寸厚的地壳上，下面就是火山口。我不知道自己一直在做梦——也就是说，我刚才一直没有让自己明白这一点；但现在——哎呀！负债累累，身无分文，把一个可爱姑娘的幸福或悲哀握在手里，我面前只有一份薪水，这份薪水可能永远不能——噢，绝不会兑现！噢，噢，噢！我完了，没有救了！什么也救不了我了！

“亨利，你每天的收入，只要从你手里毫不在乎地漏下一点儿，就足以——”

“噢，我每天的收入！来，喝下这杯苏格兰威士忌热酒，打起精神。一起干杯！要么，不行——你饿了；坐下来——”

“我一点儿也不想吃，我饿过头了。这些天我吃不下，不过，我陪你喝，喝倒为止。来吧！”

“你喝多少就多少，我陪你！准备好了吗？我们这就开始！那好，劳埃德，我一边调酒，你一边慢慢讲自己的故事。”

“慢慢讲？怎么，再讲一遍？”

“再讲一遍？你这是什么意思？”

“啊，我是说，你想再听一遍吗？”

“我想再听一遍？这真让人莫名其妙。等一下，别再喝那酒了。你不需要喝这个。”

“听我说，亨利，你吓着我了。到这里来的路上，我不是把整个故事都给你讲了吗？”

“你？”

“是的，是我。”

“算我该死，我一个字也没听进去。”

“亨利，这是一件严肃的事儿，让我烦恼。你刚才在公使那里干了什么？”

这时，我恍然大悟，就像男子汉那样爽快承认了。

“我把世界上最可爱的姑娘俘虏了！”

于是，他猛地冲过来，我们握手，握啊握，握得手都疼了。我们走了三英里路，他讲了一路故事，我一句也没有听见，他并没有怪我。随后，他就坐下来，像个耐心的老好人，又把故事重新讲了一遍。故事概括如下：他来到英国时，以为大有机会；他揽下了“期限出售权”，替戈尔德和寇利公司的扩展部的“矿苗勘定者”兜售开采权，售价超出一百万美元的部分全部归他所有。他努力工作，用力拉住他知道的各种关系，试过一切正当的操作手段，几乎花光了所有的钱，却没有能找到一个资本家愿听信他的话，而他兜售的期限到这个月底就要结束了。总之，他要完了。这时，他跳起来，大声喊道：“亨利，你能救我！你能救我，这个世界上只有你能救我了。你愿意这样做吗？难道你不愿意吗？”

“告诉我怎么做。大胆地说，伙计。”

“给我一百万和回家的路费，我的‘期限出售权’让给你！不要，不要拒绝！”

我处在极大的痛苦之中，话到了嘴边：“劳埃德，我自己是个叫花子——身无分文，还欠着债！”但是，一个狂热的念头闪过我的脑海，我咬紧牙关，镇定下来，直到我像一个资本家那样冷静。随后，我用生意人的沉着口气说：“我愿意救你，劳埃德——”

“那我已经得救了！上帝永远保佑你！即使我——”

“让我说完，劳埃德。我要救你，但我另有办法。因为你努力工作，冒了种种风险，老天对你不公平。我不必买矿山，在伦敦这样的商务中心，我不必那样做，也能让资金运转，我一直都是这样做的，而且这次我还要这样做。我对那座矿山了如指掌，我知道它有极大的价值，谁想确认一下，我可以对谁起誓为证。你可以随意用我的名义在两周内卖出去，赚三百万现金，然后我们来对半分。”

你知道，要不是我把他绊倒，然后把他绑起来，他一定会在狂喜中跳来跳去，把家具跳成木柴堆，打碎现场的一切。

后来，他躺在那里，兴高采烈，说：“我可以用你的名义！你的名义——想想吧！嘿，这些富有的伦敦人会成群结队涌来；他们会抢购矿山的股份！我稳操胜券，我永远稳操胜券！只要我活着，我永远都不会忘记你！”

不到二十四小时，伦敦就沸腾开了！我每天无事可做，只是坐在家里，对所有来人说：“是的，是我告诉他指引你们来问我。我熟悉这个人，也熟悉这座矿山。

他的人品无可挑剔，而且矿山的价值远比他的要价高。”

就在这一阵子，我所有晚上都陪着波西娅在公使府度过。矿山之事，我对她只字不提；我为了给她一个惊喜。我们谈薪水，除了薪水和爱情，什么都不谈。有时谈爱情，有时谈薪水，有时爱情和薪水一块谈。啊呀！公使夫人和女儿对我俩非常关心，不断想方设法地庇护着我们免受打扰，还把公使蒙在鼓里，不让他起疑心——啊，她们真可爱！

月底终于到了，我在伦敦郡银行就有了一百万美元的存款，赫斯廷斯也有了同样的存款。我穿着最好的衣服，驱车经过波特兰广场那座房子时，根据种种情况判断，那两位老先生又回来了。于是，我就向公使府继续赶去，接上我心爱的人。随后，我们就开始往回赶，一路上拼命谈论薪水的事儿。她激动万分，忧心忡忡，这使她看上去美丽极了。我说：“亲爱的，凭你现在的俏模样，我要的薪水比三千英镑少一个子儿都是罪过。”

“亨利，亨利，你会把我们毁了的！”

“你不要怕。就保持这模样，相信我。一切都会平安无事。”

结果，一路上我只好不断给她鼓劲。她不断恳求我说：“噢，请记住，要是要价太高，我们说不定一点儿薪水都得不到。到时候，我们走投无路，无法谋生，会是什么结果呢？”

还是那个仆人把我们领了进去，那两位老先生都在那里。当然，看到那个容貌出众的少女跟我在一起，他们都非常吃惊，但我说：“这没有什么，先生们，她是我将来的支柱和伴侣。”

我把他们介绍给她，并叫出了他们的名字。这并没有让他们吃惊，他们知道我自会查阅姓名录。他们让我们就座，对我非常客气，对波西娅周到殷勤，以消除她的不安，让她尽可能放松。这时，我说：“先生们，我准备向你们报告。”

“我们很高兴听你报告，”我的那位先生说，“因为现在就可以裁定我和哥哥艾贝尔打的赌。要是你替我赢了这场赌，你就会得到我赠送的任何职位。你带那张百万英镑的钞票了吗？”

“在这里，先生。”说着，我把钞票交给了他。

“我赢了！”他大声喊道，然后拍了拍艾贝尔的后背，“你现在还说什么，哥哥？”

“我要说他的确挺了过来，我输了两万英镑。我本来绝不相信的。”

“我还有一事报告，”我说，“说来话长。我希望您允许我不久再来详细报告我整整一个月的经历，我向你保证这值得一听。眼下，请看看这个。”

“什么？好家伙！二十万英镑的存单。这是你的吗？”

“是我的。我是通过三十天审慎使用您让我拥有的那笔小小贷款赚来的。我只是用它来买一些小东西，然后让人找零钱罢了。”

“嗨，这真令人吃惊！难以置信啊！”

“不值一提，我会证明的。别以为我的话是无稽之谈。”

但现在，轮到波西娅吃惊了。她睁大眼睛，说：“亨利，这真是你的钱吗？你一直在对我撒谎？”

“我的确撒了谎，亲爱的。不过，我知道，你会原谅我的。”

她噘起嘴唇，说：“你别那么肯定。你这个顽皮鬼，居然这样骗我！”

“噢，你会原谅的，宝贝儿，你会原谅的。你知道，这只是好玩。来，我们接着说吧。”

“等一下，等一下！那个职位，你知道。我要给你那个职位，”我的那位先生说。

“啊，”我说，“我真是不胜感激，但我真的不想要了。”

“不过，你可以在我赠送的职位里面选一个最称心的。”

“再次向您表示衷心感谢。不过，即使是最称心的职位，我也不想要了。”

“亨利，我为你感到羞愧。你怎能这样不领这位好心的先生的情呢！我可以替你道谢吗？”

“亲爱的，要是你能做得更出色，当然可以。就看你的口才了。”

她走到我的那位先生面前，坐上他的膝头，一只胳膊搂住他的脖子，直接在他的嘴上亲了个吻。随后，那两位老先生放声大笑，看得我目瞪口呆，可以说，完全僵在了那里。波西娅说：“爸爸，他说在你赠送的职位中没有他想要的职位。我感到伤心，就像——”

“我的宝贝儿，这是你的爸爸？”

“是，他是我的继父，是世上最好的爸爸。当时在公使府里，你不知道我的家世，当你告诉我说爸爸和艾贝尔伯伯的计划让你多么烦恼和担心时，我哈哈大笑，你现在明白我为什么笑了吧。”

原来如此，我自然直来直去，不再开玩笑，而是直奔主题：“噢，我最亲爱的先生，我想收回刚才说过的话。您有一个空缺的职位，那正是我想要的。”

“说出来吧。”

“女婿。”

“好吧，好吧，好吧！可是，你知道，要是你过去没有担任过这份差使，你就无法提供证明你有此类的特长来满足我们合同的条件，所以——”

“试试我吧——噢，请试试我，我求求您啦！只要试我三四十年，要是——”

“噢，好，好吧。这只是小小的要求，带她走吧。”

我们俩幸福吗？最完备的词典里也没有足够的词语来形容这一点。一两天后，当伦敦人得知我和那张钞票一个月的奇遇，以及最后的结局时，他们谈论这件事，是否津津乐道？答案是肯定的。

我的波西娅的爸爸把那张友好、周到的钞票送回英格兰银行，并把它兑成了现金；随后，银行注销那张钞票，把它作为礼物赠给了他；他又把钞票在婚礼上送给了我们。从那以后，那张钞票被镶上框，始终挂在我们家最神圣的地方，因为是它给我送来了我的波西娅。要不是它，我不可能留在伦敦，不会出现在公使家，也绝不会遇到她。所以，我总是说：“是的，如你所见，这是百万英镑钞票。而它问世后只买过一次东西，后来我只用了它大约十分之一的价值就得到了这个稀世珍宝。”