room, endeavouring to drive a hard bargain with the man, whom a bad season
had already rendered poor. He spoke loud and fast--until, suddenly, a
spasm at the heart caught and stopped him. His eyes bolted from their
sockets--the parchment skin of his face grew livid and blue. He staggered
for an instant, and then dropped dead at the farmer's foot. The doctors
were not wrong when they pronounced the banker's heart diseased. A week
after this sudden and awful visitation, all that remained of Abraham
Allcraft was committed to the dust, and Michael discovered, to his
surprise and horror, that his father had died an insolvent and a beggar.

* * * * *




CHAPTER VII.

THE END OF THE BEGINNING.


Abraham Allcraft, with all his base and sordid habits, was a beggar. His
gluttony had been too powerful for his judgment, and he had speculated
beyond all computation. His first hit had been received in connexion with
some extensive mines. At the outset they had promised to realize a
princely fortune. All the calculations had been made with care. The most
wary and experienced were eager for a share in the hoped for _el dorado_,
and Abraham was the greediest of any. In due time the bubble burst,
carrying with it into air poor Abraham's hard-earned fifty thousand pounds,
and his hearty execrations. Such a loss was not to be repaired by the
slow-healing process of legitimate business. Information reached him