She merely laughed, and closed the pocket-book, whispering that she didn't want Graves and Bruce to see her money. She said she did not wish to be left alone with Graves, for fear he should rob her; so Morton asked him to go out and play a game of billiards. Bruce was in a great state of anxiety, lest his wife should have come down to the store to see where he had spent the night, and he remained with Mrs. Sanford.
Morton did not return to Mrs. Sanford's until late in the evening, and he found her dressing to go to a ball. She insisted that he should go, offering to pay all the expenses. He pretended to be very much hurt at her suggestion, saying that he never would permit any lady to pay anything when he took her out. She was dressed very tastefully, and presented a very stylish appearance, so that she attracted a good deal of attention at the ball. Before going, she sent Morton to a drug store for a drachm of morphine, saying that she must have it, as she used it constantly.
The next morning, they did not get up until a late hour, and Mrs. Sanford said that she did not feel very well. While talking together, they drifted into a discussion about money. Morton, like a genuine John Bull, maintaining there was no safety except in gold, or Bank of England notes.
"But we don't have either in this country," said Mrs. Sanford; "and now, suppose you had a large sum of money, what would you do with it?"
"That's just what I would like to know," he replied. "I expect to receive one hundred pounds from England very soon, and I don't know where to keep it."
"Well, I shall put my three thousand dollars into bonds," she said. "They can be registered, so that no one can use them except the rightful owner, and the interest is payable in gold."
"I don't know anything about bonds," said Morton, "especially these American bonds, which sometimes depreciate very fast."
"Oh! the bonds of the United States are good anywhere," she replied, "and they will sell for their face in England or Canada just as well as here. They are the best securities there are. I have some now, and I intend to get some more."
While talking, Morton picked up a card which was in her work-basket, and saw that it was an advertisement of a gift concert or lottery. She noticed it, and said that it had been left there by a man named Druen, who used to come to see her. She said that he had stolen a five-hundred-dollar bond from her, however, and he had never been there since. Soon afterward she went to sleep again, and did not awake until evening, as she was very tired from the effects of the ball. Morton remained in the house all day; and, when she woke up, he got supper for her. She seemed very much pleased at his thoughtfulness, and said that she never had had any one so kind to her since she left her husband.
"I want you to go to the bank with me some day," she said, "as I want to draw the interest on some of my coupons, and then you will see what good securities American bonds are."