Then our troubles began. We were obliged to move elsewhere, and to
undertake alterations, for which money was indispensable, but we had no
money. In that predicament, we began to speculate upon the Exchange, and
the Exchange proved a kind mother to us; it sustained us until we were
on our feet again. As soon as we had established ourselves upon another
site, we proceeded to lose money, so we withdrew.
It is not surprising, therefore, that I have always regarded the Stock
Exchange as a philanthropic institution, or that, on the other hand, a
church has always seemed a sombre place in which a black priest leaps
forth from behind a confessional to seize one by the throat in the dark,
and to throttle him.
MY FATHER'S DISILLUSIONMENT
My father was endowed with a due share of the romantic fervour which
distinguished men of his epoch, and set great store by friendship. More
particularly, he was wrapped up in his friends in San Sebastian.
When we discovered that we were in trouble, before throwing ourselves
into the loving arms of the Bourse, my father spoke to two intimate
friends of his who were from San Sebastian. They made an appointment to
meet me in the Cafe Suizo. I explained the situation to them, after
which they made me certain propositions, which were so usurious, so
outrageously extortionate, that they took my breath away.
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