CHAPTER XVI.
"SHOW ME YOUR LETTERS OF CREDIT."
Fate, Providence, call it what you will, seldom fails to upset wrongdoing, making it rocky for the wrongdoer.
By an irony of fortune we carried with us that which was going to balk all, or nearly all, our fine scheme.
In our letters of credit in some mysterious way the name of the sub-manager of the London and Westminster Bank had been omitted, although this was absolutely essential to the validity of the letters. There was also another error, an error of such an extraordinary nature—that of spelling "endorse" with a "c"—that it is enough to make any man contemplating an unlawful act despair of success, since we could be defeated by such mysterious and unforeseen accidents.
A few hours after our arrival Mac called at the bankers' and was well received by the manager.
He told the manager his letters of credit ran from £5,000 to £20,000 each, and that he should want £10,000 the next day. Would they have it ready?
The next day he went to the bank, George and myself being posted outside. In ten minutes he reappeared with a square bundle under his arm. He smiled as he passed us, and, turning a corner, entered a cafe, where he joined us. His bundle contained £10,000 in Brazilian bank notes. He assured us that everything was serene at the bank, that he could have £100,000 if he wanted to ask for it.
I had already been to the three largest money brokers and arranged to buy gold. So, leaving Mac and George, I got a sole leather bag we had for the purpose, and, hiring a stalwart black porter, went to the brokers. I bought sovereigns for the whole £10,000. It was ten bags with one thousand pounds in each. The weight was 168 pounds. The black fellow put it on his head, and followed me to my hotel, and found it a pretty good load, too. So here we had one big fish landed, and confidently counted on several more.
I related above how we had in some incomprehensible way omitted putting on the letter of credit the sub-manager's name. How could we have committed such a blunder? My answer is that this is only another example of the unforeseen "something" ever happening to defeat any anticipated benefit from ill-gotten gains.