considerably under his income, and that there
was no need, as long as that was the case, to trouble himself about it."

A nervous movement among his listeners was the only reply the lawyer
received to this last announcement, or to the smile which accompanied
it.

"Mr Cruden _may_ have been correct in his conjecture, madam, although I
fear the contrary."

"If my father said a thing," blurted out Reginald at this point, "I see
no reason for doubting his word."

"None in the least, my dear Master Cruden; but unfortunately your father
did not know either what his income was or what his expenditure was."

"Do _you_ know what they were?" said Reginald, not heeding the
deprecating touch of his mother's hand on his.

"As far as I understand the state of your father's affairs," said Mr
Richmond, undisturbed by the rude tone of his inquisitor, "his income
was entirely derived from interest in the stock of two American
railways, in which he placed implicit confidence, and in one or the
other of which he insisted on investing all capital which came to his
hand. The total income from these two sources would in my opinion just
about cover Mr Cruden's various expenses of all kinds."

There was something like a sigh of relief from the listeners as Mr
Richmond reached this point. But it died away as he proceeded.

"In his choice of an investment for his capital Mr Cruden consulted no
one, I believe, beyond himself. For some time it seemed a fortunate
investment, and the shares rose in value, but latterly they took a turn
for the worse, and early this year I am sorry to say one of the railways
suspended payment altogether, and Mr Cruden lost a considerable portion
of his fortune thereby."

"I heard my husband say some months ago that he had made some slight
loss in the City," said Mrs Cruden, "but I imagined from the light
manner in which he treated it that it was quite trifling, and would be
quickly repaired."

"He did hope that would be the case. Although all his friends urged him
to sell out at once, he insisted on holding on, in the hope of the
railway recovering itself."

"And has it recovered?" asked Mrs Cruden, with a tremble in her voice.

"I regret to say it has not, Mrs Cruden. On the contrary, it was
declared bankrupt a few days ago, and what is still more deplorable, it
has involved in its own ruin the other railway in which the remainder of
your husband's property was invested, so that all the shares whic