The silence of grief hung
around the magnificent saloons, once so gay; the wardrobe that contained
the costly apparel, the casket that treasured the pearls of Ceylon and
gems of Golconda, were all closed and neglected. The treatment of
their father was an agony of domestic trouble, in which they were tried
as in a furnace.
A few weeks, however, and the darkest hour of the storm had passed.
Moments of relaxation brought beams of sunlight through the dissolving
beams of sunlight through the dissolving clouds; drives, walks, and
even visits were gradually resumed.
A fit of illness brought Cassier to his senses. A forced abstinence
for a few weeks saved him from the last and most terrible lot of
confirmed drunkenness; but ruin was written with his own hand on the
firm that made him wealthy. Quick-footed rumor, that hates the well-
being of man, was abroad at its deadly work; public confidence in the
bank began to wane, and each depositor lent the weight of his individual
interest to accelerate the financial crash. The stone set in motion
down the mountain assumes a force that no power could stay; on it will
go until it rests in the plain From the eminence of his boasted wealth
the usurer found this turn come to whirl around on the wheel of
fortune and yield to some other mortal, who is the toy of fortune, to
grasp for a moment the golden key of avarice and ambition.
At length the crash has come. One of the largest depositors sends
notice that in a week he will withdraw his funds.
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