n--ending with the oft-repeated remark, that she
had felt his shadow when he first came among them, and that she knew
he must be a bad man. The ebullition subsided, in due time, and then
the really good-hearted spinster gave her whole thought and active
energy to the new work that was before them.

After the fierce conflict endured by Mr. Markland, ending wellnigh
fatally, a calmness of spirit succeeded. With him, the worst was
over; and now, he bowed himself, almost humbly, amid the ruins of
his shattered fortunes, and, with a heavy heart, began to
reconstruct a home, into which his beloved ones might find shelter.
Any time within the preceding five or six years, an intimation on
his part that he wished to enter business again would have opened
the most advantageous connections. It was different now. There had
been a season of overtrading. Large balances in England and France
were draining the Atlantic cities of specie, and short crops made it
impossible for western and southern merchants to meet their heavy
payments at the east. Money ruled high, in consequence; weak houses
were giving way, and a general uneasiness was beginning to prevail.
But, even if these causes had not operated against the prospects of
Mr. Markland, his changed circumstances would have been a sufficient
bar to an advantageous business connection. He was no longer a
capitalist; and the fact that he had recklessly invested his money
in what was now pronounced one of the wildest schemes, was looked
upon as conclusive evidence against his discretion and sound
judgment. The trite saying, that the world judges of men by success
or failure, was fully illustrated in his case. Once, he was referred
to as the shrewdest of business men; now, he was held up to
ambitious young tradesmen as a warning wreck, stranded amid the
breakers.

How painfully was Mr. Markland reminded, at almost every turn, of
the changed relations he bore to the world! He had not doubted his
ability to form a good business connection with some house of
standing, or with some young capitalist, ready to place money
against his experience and trade. But in this he was doomed to
disappointment. His friends spoke discouragingly; and everywhere he
met but a cold response to his views. Meantime, one creditor of the
Company, in New York, who held a matured piece of paper on which Mr.
Markland's name was inscribed, commenced a suit against him. To
prevent this creditor getting all that remai