I admitted all he said, but renewed my determination to limit his credit to twenty-five thousand dollars.

The Hamburg firm then agreed to accept for him the payment of all his debt to us, except the twenty-five thousand dollars, payable in equal parts for the next three steamer-days.

Accordingly, Meiggs went back with me to our bank, wrote his note for twenty-five thousand dollars, and secured it by mortgage on real estate and city warrants, and substituted the three acceptances of the Hamburg firm for the overplus.

I surrendered to him all his former notes, except one for which he was indorser.

The three acceptances duly matured and were paid; one morning Meiggs and family were missing, and it was discovered they had embarked in a sailing-vessel for South America.
This was the beginning of a series of failures in San Francisco, that extended through the next two years.