A PANIC IN THE CITY.
On the following morning Aaron was up earlier than usual, and in the
daily papers he read the confirmation of the intelligence which Mr.
Moss had imparted to him. There was a panic in the City, and fortunes
were already being won and lost. The bank in which his money was
deposited, and in which he held a large number of shares, was
tottering, and he knew that he was ruined if it could not weather the
storm.
Mr. Moss found him reading the news over his breakfast table.
Business, as we know, had not prospered with Mr. Moss of late years;
his investments had turned out badly, and he was in low water himself.
He had placed his dependence upon Aaron to pull him through, and the
rock he had depended upon was crumbling away.
"You are in trouble, Mr. Moss," said Aaron as his friend made his
appearance.
"I have the second edition of the morning papers," replied Mr. Moss
with a white face. "The Stock Exchange is in a blaze."
"Rather early to commence business," observed Aaron calmly; "the
outlook is not improving, I suppose?"
"Everything is going to the dogs, Cohen."
"Have you breakfasted?" asked Aaron.
"Had breakfast at seven o'clock. Couldn't sleep a wink all night."
"Why?"
"Why!" exclaimed Mr. Moss. "What a question to ask when ruin stares a
man in the face."
"I hope," said Aaron gravely, "that you are not deeply involved."
"I am up to my neck. But what is my position compared with yours?
Cohen, you are a mystery."
"Because I accept the inevitable. Can you show me how I can improve
matters?"
"No, I can't," answered Mr. Moss, with a deep groan; "only if I had
capital I could make a fortune."
"How?"
"By joining the bears. Cohen, there is a chance for you. Your credit
is good. There is nothing for it but a plunge. It will set you right."
"How if it goes the other way, Mr. Moss?"
"You will be no worse off than a thousand men who are plunging."
"The majority of whom, before another sun rises, will find themselves
disgraced. No, Mr. Moss, no. I have never dabbled in stocks and shares
at the risk of my good name, and I never will. There is but one way to
meet misfortune, and that is the straight way. We will go to the City,
and ascertain, if we can, exactly how matters stand. Rachel and Rose
do not return from Bournemouth till the afternoon."
In the City they learned the worst, and Aaron realized that he was
beggared.
"Can you save nothing from the wreck?" asked Mr. Moss.
"Nothing," replied Aaron. "It may be that all I possess may not be
sufficient to clear me. I think you had better take Rose back with you
to Portsmouth; you have been absent from your business too long."
"I must go this evening," said Mr. Moss, "but Rose can stay. She will
be a comfort to Mrs. Cohen."
"No, take her with you. In this crisis Rachel, I know, would prefer to
be alone with me. Besides," he added, with a sad smile, "I have to
provide another home, and I must be careful of my shillings."
"Another home, Cohen. What do you mean?"
"With certain ruin staring me in the face, and with claims coming upon
me which I may not be able to meet, I must begin immediately to
retrench. Our establishment is an expensive one, and I dare not carry
it on a day longer than is necessary. Rachel and I will sleep in the
house to-night for the last time. To-morrow I will pay off the
servants, and we shall move into humbler quarters. So tumble down all
our grand castles. Well, it has happened to better men, who, after
years of toil, have to begin life over again. Rachel will not mind; we
have faced poverty before to-day, and will face it again cheerfully."
"It drives me wild to hear you speak like that!" exclaimed Mr. Moss.
"You are looking only on the black side. If you had the money you have
got rid of the last two or three weeks----"
"Hush! Mr. Moss, hush!" said Aaron, interrupting him. "It is a
consolation to me to know that the greater part of my legitimately
earned fortune has been so well bestowed. I am glad I did not wait to
make reparation for the great error of my life. Rachel has yet to hear
my confession. If I obtain her forgiveness I can face the future
bravely and cheerfully."
Under the seal of confidence Aaron had made Mr. Moss and Dr. Spenlove
acquainted with the particulars of the story of the two babes and of
the deception he had practiced in his home in Gosport. Mr. Moss was
not greatly astonished, for the hints lately dropped by his friend had
prepared him for some disclosure of a strange nature.
"Besides," he said inwardly to himself, "Ruth bears no likeness to
either Mr. or Mrs. Cohen. How blind we have all been!"
In his weak moments Mr. Moss was rather inclined to be wise after the
event. Both he and Dr. Spenlove had pledged themselves to secrecy, but
when they proceeded to justify Aaron for the act he stopped them,
saying it was a matter between him and his conscience. Now on this
disastrous morning, as they walked from the City, Mr. Moss asked Aaron
whether he intended to tell his wife to-day.
"Not to-day," Aaron answered. "I must bide my time. The news that we
are poor will be as much as Rachel can bear."